Ridiculology

Checking in

2010-03-19T11:37:00.003-04:00

I just noticed that my last post was about goals for 2010 (and also that it was from JANUARY, and it is now MARCH), so I thought I'd see how well I've been keeping to those goals. Ahem:

1. I've technically read more than one book a month, but I can (and should) do better. I'm still waiting until the last minute to read my book club selection, which I need to stop doing. However, I'm working on finishing some unfinished books, so that's good. I'll get to the end of you one of these days, Dracula!

2. Working out? Um... yeah. I haven't been as active as I'd like. Now that the weather is warming up, Jared and I are planning to walk/hike more often.

3. I'm working on getting back into Final Fantasy 3 on my DS, so I would consider this as a good start for playing more video games. I honestly don't know what's holding me back from playing Dragon Age, though. I WANT to play it, but when I have free time I never do. What's wrong with me?!

4. I finally finished organizing all of my files, which feels wonderful. I still have plenty of craft projects to finish, but I feel good knowing a big project is completed that has been nagging me for quite some time. Progress!

5. Like I said before, this one's easy. Done! I have my certificate and the bride and I have already met to discuss the ceremony in detail. Now I just need to get a website up and running!

So, plenty still to do if I want to really say that I'm meeting my goals, but at least I haven't ignored them completely. Maybe I should have made a goal to update my blog more!

Speaking of the blog - I haven't decided what the future of Ridiculology is. Maybe I'll keep it going as-is, just updating when I have something interesting to share. Or maybe it will morph into another project. What do you think, loyal readers?

Goals for 2010

2010-01-04T10:09:00.002-05:00

Well, I didn't end up making any resolutions for this year - although I do like the idea of picking up a bad habit instead of starting a good one! Instead, I think I'm going to copy Jessica's idea and create a list of goals for 2010. She did ten, but I'm going to be a little less motivated and list five. Perhaps one of them will be a bad habit that I'd like to indulge in!

1. Read more than one book per month. Right now, I'm in a book club that meets about once a month, and I've been good about getting my book read before our meetings (even if that means some marathon reading the day before). However, I'd like to up that a bit, and start really reading for pleasure again. To start, I'm going to try to finish a few books that I've started and forgotten about, like this one and this one.

2. Work out at least once a week. This sounds pathetic, but really - I hardly ever really "work out," even if I am in colorguard part of the year and randomly dance around the house when I'm cleaning or cooking dinner. I know that I should be working out at least three times a week, but let's be honest - I'm not going to leap headfirst into an active lifestyle after being a lazy ass for pretty much my entire adult life. So let's start small and see how things go, shall we?

3. Play more video games. It sounds simple enough, but I'm very much the kind of person that avoids doing fun things at home because I'm too busy worrying about the chores I haven't done yet, and video games usually end up being last on my list of things that are okay to do. But I just got Dragon Age: Origins for Christmas and I have other games I've been meaning to finish, so I need to get playing!

4. Finish some freakin' projects. Be honest - we all have those projects that we've been meaning to finish for YEARS and keep putting off. This year I want to get some of them done and out of my mind. This will also help me feel less guilty about completing goal #3. Specifically, I'd like to finish organizing my files (preferably before tax day) and get a fairly large cross-stitch project done that was supposed to be a gift for a friend, oh, in 2008. Oops.

5. Become a wedding officiant. This one's easy because I already know that I'm doing it - a coworker asked me to officiate her wedding, and I just sent in my paperwork to the Ohio Secretary of State today! Luckily for me and my coworker, I got myself ordained online through the Universal Life Church back in 2004, so I'm totally qualified. Hilarious, right? But I've always been a little wedding obsessed (okay, a LOT wedding obsessed) so this seemed like a fun way to be involved in weddings, help people out, and make a little extra money on the side without trying to become a full-fledged wedding planner. As long as my first wedding goes well this year, I'm going to start advertising myself and try to get a little side business going. My focus will be on non-religious weddings - I would cater to people who, like me, don't want to get married in a church or by a religious official, but also don't want some totally informal courthouse thing either. So if you're in that situation too and need someone to marry you, I'd be glad to do it!

Do you have any goals or resolutions that you've decided on for 2010?

A resolution to resolve

2009-12-30T18:46:00.006-05:00

As promised, here's our Christmas photo:

Isn't it awesome?! That's our cardboard cutout of Captain James T. Kirk in the background, and I made the pie and apron myself. Jared's holding a collection of Christmas stories by Charles Dickens, and he added the lens flare for effect. We went all out for this one!

I'm still working on getting everything transferred to the laptop, so no new pictures yet. But soon! I promise!

Also, I wanted to share an update to a previous post. Remember Gueek Bkead Fay? Well, I was telling some friends about it and stumbled upon a sort-of explanation here. So, it sounds like it just means "holiday decoration" in Hindi, and specifically refers to a Christmas decoration. Not as exciting of a meaning as I'd hoped for, but it makes sense. But if I find out anything else I'll be sure to post it here!

So, 2010 is almost upon us! Have you decided on a New Year's resolution yet? I haven't yet, and I'm open to suggestions! Let me know what you think I should resolve to do (or not do) in the coming year, and maybe I'll pick your idea. Or maybe I'll come up with something else. Or... maybe I'll resolve to do nothing, which could be fun. WE'LL SEE!

Autumn is for not blogging

2009-12-02T21:41:00.003-05:00

Hello friends! It's been a while, hasn't it? Seems that I decided to take an autumn break from blogging. I've been so busy doing all sorts of fun things, but never took the time to write about them! I have pictures but I haven't been able to upload them yet - we upgraded my laptop to Windows 7 this week, and I'm still in the process of transferring files and downloading programs and all that fun stuff. So hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures soon!

The biggest thing that happened recently was at work - I was transferred to the Hilltop Branch! At first it was very hard to leave my fabulous coworkers at the Main Library, but Hilltop has been wonderful. The staff there have made me feel incredibly welcome, and most of the customers are really friendly and fun to talk to. Even some of the teens come up to the desk and chat with me, which makes me feel cool and hip. Sad but true.

The holidays are fast approaching, and I'm trying to get motivated to start some crafts. I think once we pick out the tree and start decorating, I'll be ready to make things! Jared and I have some great ideas for a Christmas photo this year that I'm sure I'll post for everyone to see - I think it's going to be amazing!

What are you doing to get yourself into the holiday spirit?

Crazy on Twitter

2009-08-20T21:23:00.002-04:00

Hey guys, remember back when I posted in January about @astrospace, the guy who freaked on Twitter? Well, he's still around - and still pissing people off! Thanks to an anonymous commenter, I learned of a petition to get the guy removed from Twitter altogether for abusive behavior. Not only is he rude and slanderous, he's actually stalked and purposefully harassed people. He's obsessed with having large amounts of followers, and he deletes the bad things he says to try and cover his tracks.

You can (and should!) read all about him here. He used the name @astronautics for a while, and now goes by @spaceastro.

So what do we do about this idiot? Well, there's the petition, which I tweeted about earlier tonight. I don't know how much it will do since he has so many accounts and aliases, but it certainly can't hurt to try. I hope that the women he called and harassed are seeing legal advice on what (if anything) they can do.

If you're curious, here's a posting that has the text of the blog post he deleted from his site that I mentioned in my first post about him - the one where he goes off about Twitter. You can tell by his writing that there is something seriously wrong with this guy.

I'm all about people trying to make a name for themselves online - but don't do it by pretending that you're an authoritative news source (when you aren't) or by hurting others with the awful things you say and do.

Culinary adventures

2009-08-16T23:34:00.004-04:00

I don't cook at home as often as I should (for someone that wants to save money), but lately I've been a little more adventurous than usual in the kitchen. My latest dinner attempt involved imitating a wrap that I like to get at Shane's Gourmet Market downtown. It was pretty simple to make, and it's so, so good!

Ingredients:

Chicken breast (I used the kind in the pouch that you find in the tuna section; any cubed chicken breast will do)
Bacon pieces
Wraps (I used sun dried tomato and basil, yum)
Spinach (lettuce will do if you're not a spinach fan)
Cheese (Shane's uses Swiss, but I prefer provolone or muenster)
Tomatoes
Red onions
Dijon mustard
Ranch (Optional)

Everything is chopped and cubed, and put in the wrap:

Like I said, pretty simple. I put a little too much filling in mine though, and it was hard to roll up. But it was still very yummy!

Since I'd fryed up the bacon, I had some bacon grease left over - and I really didn't want to just get rid of it. So I sliced up some potatoes and fryed them in the grease. Yes, I know, not the healthiest thing in the world. But I've tried this before with butter and always burnt the potatoes, so I wanted to see if this method worked out better - and it was delicious!

A little bit of sour cream made these potatoes a perfect side dish. This ended up being a very filling meal and I'll probably make these things separately next time, but I was glad that everything turned out tasting really good.

I wish I'd taken some pictures of the tortilla crusted fish I made last week as well - Jared said it was really good, and that's saying a lot since he doesn't usually like fish. You'll just have to trust me that it was awesome. It was just some tilapia with lime juice and seasoning, coated in crushed up tortilla chips with a little butter topping. I got the idea from a Lean Cuisine that I really like - but I think my version is better (but probably much more fattening).

Do you have any culinary creations that you're particularly proud of? Any recommendations for meals that a newbie like me should try?

Gueek Bkead Fay

2009-08-04T22:48:00.003-04:00

Back in 2004, Jared visited me in New Philadelphia for the first time over winter break. He only stayed one day, so I had limited time to show him what NP had to offer. Naturally, I took him to New Towne Mall, and then to Hog Heaven for dinner. While at the mall, we strolled through a crappy dollar store and found this strange holiday decoration:

Gueek Bkead Fay? What the crap does THAT mean?! Jared and I were at a loss. At first, I thought maybe it was some strange mistranslation of "Greek Bread Day." But if so, then both the U and K would have to be R's, which doesn't make sense. Besides, there does not seem to be any kind of Greek Bread Day that I can find a reference to. And what's with the reindeer? Are they an integral part of Gueek Bkead Fay activities?

So what does it really mean? It seems that we aren't the only ones wondering. Jared recently found this posting on a translation website about the phrase. There are suggestions that it might be Turkish or even Hindi, but nobody seems to agree or know for sure. The only other mention of it is in this blog posting - but again, there seems to be no explanation of what it means. The author of the blog later posted this message, stating that people had tried emailing him about the meaning of the phrase, and that he didn't know what it meant. Of course, it still makes me wonder why he USED the phrase in a post to begin with, if he honestly has no idea what it means. He must have heard it somewhere, right?

So it seems for now that the mystery continues. If anyone has any insights on the origins of Gueek Bkead Fay, please let me know!

RIP Billy Mays and library funding

2009-06-30T13:55:00.005-04:00

I've had a lot on my mind lately, but no inspiration to post anything here until now. Truth be told, I've been busy with two other blogs this summer for our Adult Summer Reading Club and for our Main Library Staff Summer Reading Club. So poor little Ridiculology has been neglected - nothing new though, right?

Things in my world have been a little crazy as of late - and not always in a good way. It's been hard to try to not worry about the governor's proposed $220 million cut to the Public Library Fund. It depresses me to think about what kind of impact that would have on libraries across the state, and especially at CML. At the same time, it's been amazing to see the support that the public has been giving to libraries over the past two weeks. From organizing rallies, to sending emails to legislators and calling the governor's office, Ohioans are coming out in record numbers in support of their public libraries. I hope it helps - the decision on the budget is being delayed through July 7th, but hopefully we'll know something then.

So if I lost my job as librarian (which I certainly hope won't happen), what do you guys think my second career choice should be? Wedding planner tops my list - with all of the weddings I've attended and helped plan over the years, I think it would be a good fit. Just in the past two weeks, I've been in one wedding and attended two others! Check out my Flickr page for photos.

Or, maybe I could become a pitchwoman, and take over for my dearly departed Billy Mays. Somehow I don't think that would suit me very well, but it certainly would be fun to get paid to yell at people all of the time. Speaking of Billy Mays, I have to confess that I am very, very saddened by his death. This statement by the Discovery Channel and his partner Anthony Sullivan just breaks my heart. He was a great man, and one hell of a salesman. I wore blue yesterday in honor of him.

So, what else could I do? Rodeo clown? Underwater basket weaver? ASTRONAUT?! I need a backup plan, people!

What I've been busy doing

2009-06-08T23:50:00.004-04:00

If you want to know what I've been up to lately, check out this post on our staff Summer Reading Club blog: http://mainsrc.blogspot.com/2009/06/main-staff-src-dessert-potluck.html

I recorded and edited the video myself - it's not great, but it's not bad for a first-timer, right? At the very least, I hope people get a kick out of it!

Stuck in a reading rut

2009-05-28T10:11:00.003-04:00

It's time for me to admit the truth: I'm a librarian, and I don't read.

Alright... that's not entirely true. I flip through craft books and cookbooks all of the time, but it's not the same as sitting down and reading a book - at least it doesn't feel that way. I love books, I really do, but at some point in college I stopped finding the time to read books for pleasure, and it's been a difficult habit to get myself back into.

I know this might sound like blasphemy to many of my friends. But whenever I log into my Goodreads account, I'm reminded of how little I've read in my lifetime, and it's kind of depressing. Granted, I'm not listing the 60+ Babysitter's Club books on Goodreads that I read as a kid, but still. There's only a little over 100 other books that I can recall reading, and that's just not enough.

And if that weren't enough, I recently attended a Reader's Advisory training at work where staff were throwing out names of authors I didn't know, talking about books I'd never heard of, and generally having a wonderfully intellectual discussion about books and reading that I couldn't participate in. Sure, I know that I don't have to read everything to do my job, but it still made me feel very inadequate.

So how do I fit reading back into my life? Well, I joined a book club - I figure that's a good start. We're reading Dracula this month, which is a book I've always wanted to read. And to give myself an extra challenge, I'm reading it on my iPhone! I've never really tried reading an ebook, and there's a "Classics" iPhone app (only 99 cents!) that includes Dracula, so I'm giving it a chance.

What are you reading right now? Does anyone else have trouble finding time to read too?

Things on my mind

2009-05-06T13:46:00.003-04:00

Haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd share what's on my mind today:

1. Pepsi Throwback - it's good, but makes you realize how much sugar you're really drinking with it's distinct pure sugar aftertaste. I like it though.

2. I need a vacation, stat! I'm really looking forward to my upcoming trip to New Jersey to be in Julie and Paul's wedding, and maybe a trip to Chicago again this fall.

3. I love getting myself too involved - either at work, or with activities on my own time. I enjoy everything I do, but sometimes I wish I could hold myself back more. I guess maybe I wouldn't have as much fun.

4. Swine Flu - everyone needs to get the f over it. The regular flu kills way more people. So does pneumonia. And if we're talking about pandemics, don't forget about AIDS. Nobody seems worried about that anymore. But if you're looking for a good laugh, follow @the_swine_flu on Twitter.

5. I want to see a tornado. I don't want to be sucked up in a tornado, or killed by one, and I don't really want it to touch down. I just want to see a funnel cloud in the sky before I die. Is that too much to ask?

What's on YOUR mind today?

What else is there to think about on Saturday afternoon?

2009-04-18T14:06:00.005-04:00

I was talking to a coworker today (Jim) about my favorite xkcd comic:

This was from Spring of 2007 - 2 years ago. It's still awesome, but I wonder what it would look like today? Twitter isn't even on there, and Facebook would have a much bigger space now. I wonder what other newer communities would make the map? And where would Cory Doctorow's balloon be now?!

Ada Lovelace Day

2009-03-24T23:35:00.001-04:00

I wanted to sneak in my Ada Lovelace Day post before today is over, so here we go! If you don't already know about Ada Lovelace, find out more here.

There are so many amazing women in science and technology that I could go on and on about, but I ultimately decided to talk about Danica McKeller (widely known as Winnie from The Wonder Years). But Danica more than just an actress - she has a degree in mathematics, and is a published writer! Danica is incredibly intelligent, and she's making a point to let young girls know that it's cool to be smart. Her books to date are Math Doesn't Suck and Kiss My Math.

We live in a world where people, both young and old, often say, "Oh, I'm no good at math!" Why is that okay? Why is that acceptable? As Neil deGrasse Tyson said at a talk I recently attended, you don't often hear someone say, "Oh, I'm no good at English!" or "Oh, I'm no good at reading!" And that's because it's socially unacceptable to not be good at talking or reading, and it IS socially acceptable to not be good at math and science. If you haven't already noticed... this angers me.

Anyhow! Danica is my pick for Ada Lovelace Day because she is making it okay to like math. And she's gorgeous, and talented, and everything young girls want to be. She's the perfect person to be this kind of role model, and I'm so happy to see her writing books that kids can connect with.

I also feel I should mention that I used to own a shirt that said, "Algebra is for lovers." Erica = big geek. As if you didn't already know that.

Wyandotte Winery

2009-03-07T17:25:00.001-05:00

Alright, so I didn't really do any of the things I said I was going to do yesterday. But I still feel pretty good about my day off - I relaxed (of course), did the dishes, and went out shopping with Miranda. After wandering around Target for a while, I had the great idea to go visit Wyandotte Winery. It's very close to where I live and every time I drive by, I tell Jared that I should go sometime to see what kinds of wine they have. Miranda was interested in visiting too, so we left Target and made our way over to the winery.

This place was really fun. One of the owners, Valerie, greeted us as soon as we walked in and invited us to have a wine tasting. We tasted six wines for $5 - I've never been to a wine tasting before, but this seemed very reasonable. The wines we tasted ranged from a semi-dry Riesling to a sweet apple wine (check out the whole list here), and all of them were really good! It was hard to pick a favorite. We walked out about an hour later just a little loopy and with two bottles of wine in our possession - the White Roses (a semi-sweet white wine, made from the Niagara grape) and the Sweet William (a sweet red wine, made from a mix of Niagara and Baco Noir). The wines were very reasonably priced at $9.99 to $14.99 per bottle.

For a first time wine taster, this was a very welcoming atmosphere! Both Valerie and her husband Robin were friendly and fun to talk to, and the other guests were just as laid back, talkative, and enjoyable to be around. I'll definitely go back here again to review it for Obscure Ohio, and to try some of their other wines as well!

Things left unfinished

2009-03-06T08:20:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I think that I'm a completely different person at home than I am at work. Not my personality really, but the way I do things. At work, I'm totally organized - even to the point of being anal retentive. I can't stand to let clutter pile up at my desk. I keep to-do lists, and finish projects ahead of schedule. I am motivated and work fast. I'm... a better person overall.

At home - well, that's another story. My desk at home is a disaster. I'm a packrat, and it's hard for me to get rid of things that I don't need. I procrastinate, even on things I would enjoy doing. I have a million projects that I've started and never finished, or just never got around to starting. I'm completely unorganized in almost every way imaginable.

I want to rectify this, but I'm not sure how. I get home after work and I feel so lazy. There are so many fun things I'd like to do, but I'm overwhelmed by my options. And when I feel overwhelmed, I don't do anything. I feel good when I get something done, but I really have to force myself to be motivated.

I know I just need to pick something and go with it. Focus on that one thing, and when I get it done, pick something else. I also know that I don't need to be productive all of the time at home, but I need to get enough done so that I can enjoy the fun things, and not feel guilty about the other stuff I should be doing instead!

So today is my day off, and I'm going to try to tackle some stuff I've been meaning to do. Things like cleaning my room, donating some bags of clothes to Goodwill, getting my oil changed. I also want to start working on some crafts - March is (apparently) National Craft Month, and if I get some of my unfinished projects done I'll post pictures of them here. I haven't done any crafts since Christmas, and that's just sad!

Is there anything you're trying to work on this month?

Meeting strangers

2009-02-21T20:13:00.000-05:00

I am no stranger to making friends online.

Back in 1995 when I got my first computer, anybody who was ANYBODY was on AOL. In fact, the door to my bedroom at my mother's house still has an AOL sticker on it that reads, "I'd rather be online." Chat rooms were all the rage, and 8th grade Erica found herself talking to people online all the time, in both AOL and MTV chat rooms. Nobody seemed to worry about sexual predators back then, and let's be honest; at that point most of them didn't know how to get online yet. I was just excited to talk to new and interesting people.

I remember the first time a boy PM'd me (PM = Personal Message). My little naive heart was all a-flutter! We agreed to meet in the same chat room again the next night at a designated time to talk again. I wrote about him in my diary and decided to email him before we talked again to tell him how much I liked him and see if he wanted to be my boyfriend. He never responded to that email, and he didn't show up the next night to the chat room to talk. I was crushed! Later I realized how freaked out he must have been when he got my email. Sorry, random AOL boy. :)

Skip ahead a few years, and I'm on my way to college. I signed up for a South Park newsletter through Comedy Central's website, and I slowly started getting to know some of the regular posters. The newsletter eventually got dropped by Comedy Central, but the members created an MSN group to keep it going and planned a South Park Convention in Colorado. I told my mom about the convention (she is also a big SP fan), and in the summer of 2003 we both flew to Colorado to meet a bunch of people I only knew through an online newsletter. It was a BLAST! Mom and I attended subsequent "mini" conventions, getting to know this group of people better and enjoying our shared love of a silly, dirty cartoon. The group eventually fizzled out, but I'm so glad I met them. In fact, two of the people I met through the South Park newsletter (and who met each other that way as well) are getting married this summer - and they've asked me to be a bridesmaid in their wedding! All because I took a chance and flew to Colorado that summer to meet some people from the internet.

Now it's even easier and more accepted to meet friends in real life that you know from online sites or groups. The same goes for couples. It used to be embarrassing to say that you met your significant other from an online dating site - now, it's commonplace. I know plenty of people that found their spouse on the internet, and are happy they made that decision.

Recently, Jared and I met two people who frequently comment on The Domestic Scientist. I found out they lived in Columbus, and started listening to their radio show, CaveRadio. When they mentioned on Twitter that they were going to play Dungeons and Dragons for the first time, I tweeted back and said that I was jealous - I played D&D back in high school and would love to play again. Without hesitation, they invited me over to play that Friday night. I brought Jared and Miranda with me, and we had an amazing time!

I guess I've just never been afraid to make connections with people online, even when it wasn't accepted to do so. Meeting strangers, contrary to what we are taught as kids, doesn't always turn out bad. Sure, there are weirdos out there, but the internet is mostly full of really awesome people - and I'm so thankful that I've been able to meet some of them!

How NOT to handle yourself on Twitter

2009-01-23T16:25:00.002-05:00

A while back I started following @astrospace on Twitter -the official account for Space and Astronautics News. This shouldn't surprise anyone - I love space! And science! Yay! However, whoever running the account almost never tweeted about space! Or science! Very disappointing. Often it was about how many followers they had, and no real news. But I kept following them anyway, mostly because I'm too lazy to unfollow people.

ANYHOW.

Last night the person behind this account had some sort of crazy emotional breakdown, and I was there to witness the whole thing. Somehow, in a short period of time, @astrospace lost 8000 followers, and FLIPPED OUT about it. They started talking about how horrible of a company Twitter was, and how they were fed up and deleting their account. @jonathanstark posted this awesome screen shot of the whole mess. Minutes after that last tweet, the account was changed over to @zx152 - as of today, this account is completely gone, and the @astrospace account only has a few tweets, with the latest one actually being about space news. But last night it linked to a blog post which they claimed "this will be syndicated internationally on major news sites" and was basically a huge post of nothing but slanderous nonsense about Twitter and how the company is "scum" and should be shut down. Not surprisingly, this post is now nowhere to be found, which leaves me to believe they are full of crap.

So what's the lesson here? Don't be a dick on Twitter - simple as that. Sure, maybe it was Twitter's fault that @astrospace lost that many followers, but come on! There is no need to be an unprofessional, whiny, ignorant dolt when you don't get your way. The idea of perpetual beta online means that sometimes things get messed up, and you need to chill and go with the flow. Twitter didn't even have a chance to respond to this jerk, and I'm glad they didn't. The kinds of mean and hateful things that @astrospace wrote in that blog post don't deserve a response. The person behind this account only made themself look like a fool to all of their followers.

Check out this posting on the Get Satisfaction customer service site, and great post about the whole mess can be found here.

Listy fun

2009-01-17T10:58:00.000-05:00

Seven things I'm obsessed with that I probably shouldn't be:

1. Harrison Ford. We all know this obsession by now, right? But really... the man is old. I have issues.

2. The smell of gasoline. I don't know why - I just love it.

3. Cream cheese. So, so bad for me. And so, so delicious.

4. Music from the 90's. Say what you will, but that's my effin' decade, man. I do love me some 80's hair metal too, but 90's rock just makes me SO happy in ways I can't completely describe.

5. An obnoxiously bright pink bathrobe that belonged to my grandmother. It's so ugly and yet so comfy and warm. So what if I look like an old crazy woman when I wear it?

6. Cracking my elbows/fingers/toes/etc. I will probably have all sorts of joint issues or arthritis by the time I'm 30.

7. Making lists of things about me that people probably already know instead of writing a real blog post. Wait, what? :)

Reflections

2008-12-31T10:43:00.002-05:00

Is it totally cliche of me to write a post reflecting back on the past year on New Year's Eve? If it is, too bad. I'm doing it anyway.

2008 was really a mixed bag. It wasn't a bad year, but it wasn't necessarily a good year either. I can't even remember what my resolution was for 2008, so I don't know if I kept it or not. Chances are, I did not.

The Good:

Had some awesome parties (Birthday, Halloween, etc). Got rid of the cats, who were destroying my house. Went to Chicago for the first time and absolutely loved it. Enjoyed a whole year of being a professional librarian in an organization that I am so excited to be a part of. Got awesome new stuff (TV, couch, iPhone, new DS lite, etc.). Participated in Learn & Play and became a lot closer with many of my colleagues.

The Bad:

Had some somewhat unsuccessful parties (Smash Party on the weekend of the blizzard, for example). Did not get accepted as an ALA Emerging Leader (there's always next year, right?). The new Harry Potter movie did NOT come out - total sadness. Had some nasty fights with Jared over the cats (this was, of course, later rectified).

The Ugly:

Had a weird & uncomfortable fight with my mother (things are getting better now though). Injured my foot during the summer and have had heel pain (plantar fasciitis) for well over 6 months now - have been going to an orthopaedist for it. Did not get any thinner (ha, like THAT'S anything new). Been somewhat depressed about all of the above.

What do I want for 2009? I want two things - to pay off my credit card debt, and to learn to cook. Money is the motivation for both of these. Obviously, if I can pay off my CC's, I will be SO much better off. And if I learn to cook better, I will eat at home more and save money on going out to eat. If I'm lucky, this will also help me to eat healthier as well *crosses fingers*. I know now that a lot of my frustration results from feeling like I'm in a financial rut. I can't save money for the life of me, and although I can afford things that I want, I just don't feel like I'm going anywhere or planning ahead. You might say that money can't buy happiness, but if you don't have to WORRY about money, you'll certainly be a lot happier.

So, although I had some great times this year, I will not be sad to see 2008 go. Instead I will be celebrating with those closest to me, and hoping that 2009 brings more of the good, less of the bad, and none of the ugly.

Things I love about December

2008-12-24T11:35:00.004-05:00

1. It's acceptable (and encouraged) to eat your body weight in goodies. OMG, you're gonna have to roll me out the freakin' door, people.
2. Watching people fight in stores - either with each other or over that last toy on the shelf.
3. Last minute shopping, especially when I see lots of #2. Hehe.
4. Shrimp cocktail! In my family, it's a staple on Christmas.
5. Christmas carols FTW!
6. Wrapping gifts. I know most people hate this, but I love it. Going to spend the rest of today wrapping, actually.
7. Hanukkah - no, I'm not Jewish, but Jared and I like to celebrate as many holidays as possible. And since we really don't know how to celebrate Kwanzaa, we have a menorah up in the window by our Christmas tree. It's the celebration of light, people! Yay light!
8. Parties, especially New Year's parties. Jared and I are having one this year - YOU SHOULD COME! :D
9. Those ridiculous gifts that Target puts out just for the holidays that they don't have any other time of year. Does anyone even buy those?
10. Drinking with my family. Hey, don't judge - everyone has to get through this season somehow!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year to all of you! :D

For Betty

2008-12-01T13:50:00.007-05:00

Today is December 1st - for most people it's just the beginning of the winter holiday season. But for me, it's the second anniversary of my grandmother's death. The loss of a grandparent is always difficult, but losing Betty (I called her by her first name for the majority of my childhood) was especially hard for me. It's been two full years now, and yet I still wish I could call up to my grandparents' house and hear her voice say hello.

My grandmother was very important in my life. She and my grandfather helped raise me while my mother worked long hours to make ends meet. I have her middle name (Louise) and her bright blue eyes. She was a beautiful woman with a classy style - and a flair for bright colors. I like to think that I've acquired some of her fashion sense over the years. I learned to love baking because of watching her so much when I was young, and I developed a love of party planning and etiquette because of her passion for those things as well. She was an amazing woman that would do anything for you, and frankly, I just wouldn't be the woman I am today without her influence in my life.

I thought a good way to remember her today would be to look at some old photographs. Here's one of her holding me when I was just a few months old:

Ha, I was a cute baby, wasn't I? I used to sleep with grandma all the time:

Oh and don't think she was just some "typical" grandma - Betty was certainly a wild woman when she wanted to be:

One of the things I am most grateful for is that I was able to spend so much time with grandma:

I only hope that I will look as good as she did as I get older:

I miss you, Betty. Thank you for being the kind of person who is irreplaceable in my life.

Dewey

2008-11-20T07:54:00.003-05:00

Ugh, it's so early & I'm so tired... I went to a screening of Bruce Campbell's new movie last night, My Name Is Bruce (and here was actually there & did a short Q&A with us, OMG), and it was at midnight so I didn't get home until after 2am. Yikes! I feel so old - I can't stay up late & get up early like I used to.

Anyhow, I saw this on Rock Me Like A Librarian and had to see what my results were. I think they're pretty fitting, no?

Erica's Dewey Decimal Section:

620 Engineering & allied operations

Erica = 58931 = 589+31 = 620

Class:
600 Technology

Contains:
Health, agriculture, management, public relations, buildings.

What it says about you:
You are creative and inspired to make the world a better place. You can work hard on something when it catches your interest. Your friends have unique interests in common with you.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

Thing #23 - Recap!

2008-11-19T15:01:00.003-05:00

Well, here we are - the end of the Learn & Play road. Obviously, my blogging will continue, and I hope some of my colleagues will continue blogging as well. Here's my recap:

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

I've enjoyed everything, but I especially enjoyed getting to know everyone better on Twitter and playing with things I hadn't used before, like the wiki sandbox and MOLDI.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

I'm definitely less afraid to try new things - I know that if I just take a little time to mess around with something new, I'll figure it out! And if I don't get it right away, I have plenty of people to ask for help.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

I have just been amazed and delighted at how much more of a "community" there is now with CML folks from all over the system. I feel much more connected to what's happening with my coworkers here at Main and in the branches. Sure, we've all learned a little bit more about technology - but we're also learning so much more about each other! It's incredible!

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

Honestly, I really liked the format - go at your own pace, with some "catch up" time built in. The videos (I felt) were incredibly helpful too. I think additional things could be added for those people who finish early and want more to explore, kind of like the Read On option that kids get with SRC. Play On!

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?

In a heartbeat! I had so much fun with this program, and I think as technology changes and evolves in the coming years, we'll have much more to explore. And depending on the technology, the format might have to change accordingly - only time will tell!

Thanks to all of the library people who have been reading and commenting on my blog! And to those of you non-library people out there, it'll be business as usual soon enough. Of course, if you're sick of me talking about the library, you shouldn't be reading my blog to begin with. ;)

Cheers!

Thing #22 - MOLDI

2008-11-19T14:04:00.004-05:00

First thought - I know us librarians love our acronyms, but MOLDI? Really? Did we have to go with that?

Second thought - OMG TREASURE TROVE OF CHEESY HORROR MOVIES!!! I <3 MOLDI!

Okay, I'm done screaming now, I promise. I'm really glad that this was one of the L&P things, because I've never explored MOLDI on my own, and it was good to know what we have available. It's also good to know that they have more bad horror movies available to watch than I have free time to watch them! Seven Mummies caught my eye first, then I found the Bigfoot Terror Collection parts 1-4, The Blood Drinkers, Raiders of the Living Dead, and so many more. (PS - Best quote from an IMDB user about Raiders of the Living Dead: "This movie took an hour and a half of my life. And I want it back." I can't wait to watch it!)

Wait, what? I was supposed to be looking for books? Oh yeah - I seem to have forgotten about that! I found "Reconciliation" by Benazir Bhutto in audio book format, which is a title I've been really wanting to read. I've never been really good about listening to audio books, but I'm pretty sure that we'll be seeing more and more demand for this kind of content. I hope that MOLDI is able to provide more titles for iPods - that would definitely make it more convenient and useful for our customers.

Thing #21 - Podcasts

2008-11-19T13:11:00.003-05:00

I've been slacking on my learning & playing, so I'm going to try to finish up today. I only have 3 things left! If I don't get all three done today... well, then definitely by the end of the week. :)

Podcasts! I don't listen to them all of the time, but the few I subscribe to I really enjoy. Of course there is This American Life, which is pretty well known. If you aren't familiar, it's a weekly radio show that they put out as a free hour long podcast. That might seem like a really long time, but the stories they tell are usually interesting enough to hold your attention. Plus you can always do other things while listening to it, which is what I normally do. I love multitasking!

I listen to one library podcast, and that's George & Joan: Thinking Out Loud. It's usually only 20ish minutes long, and I am always inspired after listening to it. George Needham and Joan Frye Williams have great ideas and thoughts about library service and the future of libraries, and the format is very natural - they are just having a conversation, and we get to listen in! I love it.

For my daily dose of techy goodness, I watch a video podcast called WebbAlert. This is hosted by my girl-crush, Morgan Webb (of G4 & X-Play fame). It's a great way to keep up with what's happening in the technology world, and is only about 3 minutes long on average. Plus it's Morgan Webb! And she's amazing! *commence totally platonic swooning*

Okay, so enough about what I already listen to. I tried out the podcast search sites - I liked Podfeed.net the best. I found a podcast from the Lunar and Planetary Institute Library in Houston, Texas, definitely right up my alley. Usually though, I find out about podcasts the same way I do about blogs - worth of mouth.

I think it would be great if CML could implement podcasting in a useful way. We could record programs or lectures so people who couldn't make it could listen to them or view them. Staff could do a weekly book review talk for different age groups that would highlight new books that the library has available to check out. Even just a general "What's new with the library" podcast might be something our customers would be interested in. However, it requires dedication and regular updates - are we willing to do that? My biggest concern/worry is that we would start something and then not follow up with it.

Hmm, this ended up being a much longer post than I thought it would be. Stay tuned for more L&P action with Things 22 and 23!

10 Random Things

2008-11-15T14:22:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I've been meaning to respond to a meme that The Domestic Scientist tagged me with forever ago... and I never did. Because I'm a lazy blogger. Anyhow, the meme was to list 7 things that nobody knows about you. More recently, Helene challenged us CML bloggers to write a post listing 10 random things about themselves. Well, I can't pass up two different meme requests, so I'm combining them! Here is my list of 10 random things you might not know about me:

1. I am generally a very paranoid person. I worry about what people think of me just about every minute of every day. I get easily freaked out about small stuff. Somehow I can always manage to be the calm voice of reason to other people, but never to myself.

2. I have a difficult time remembering specific things about movies - even ones I've seen multiple times. Maybe that's why I like to watch movies I've seen before, cause I'll always see something new!

3. I can't stand the taste of tea. YUCK.

4. Sometimes I can completely entertain myself with only my thoughts. I have been known to sit and stare for extended periods of time and not realize it. I'm pretty sure this is why I take ridiculously long showers, and also why I love JD on Scrubs.

5. I would be barefoot all of the time if I could be. Even at work.

6. I actually kinda like that stores put out all of their Christmas stuff way early. I like to get excited about it early too!

7. I am a total control freak, and it's really hard for me to admit it. Except that I just did, so never mind.

8. I slapped a kid in the face on my first day of my freshman year of high school. Don't worry, he totally deserved it.

9. One of my earliest memories is of sitting in a high chair, playing with a rattle, and watching my grandmother vacuum the floor. It's such a random memory, and yet it's so vivid in my mind.

10. If I could pick a second career, I would be a party/wedding planner. I think I'd be good at it too! So, you know, if this librarian thing falls through, I have options. Ha!

Vote!

2008-11-04T14:37:00.003-05:00

Today is Election Day, and I have just one thing to say to everyone reading this blog: PLEASE get out and vote today if you haven't already. As Jared pointed out, this could be the most important election in my generation's lifetime. Of course I want MY candidate to win, but I also want everyone I know, regardless of your political views, to get out and make your voice heard. It really does make a difference.

Thing #20 - YouTube

2008-11-04T12:58:00.003-05:00

I have a confession to make. Until just now, I'd never set up an account with YouTube. In fact, I *just* realized that since I have a Google account, I practically already HAD a YouTube account. How did I stay away from the video behemoth for so long? Well, I didn't really. I watch YouTube videos all the time. But I always thought the site was too cluttered, and I prefer uploading my own videos to Vimeo. Now, however, the site looks much cleaner and easier to use than in the past. I'm having fun customizing my profile and finding all of my favorite videos!

Here's a classic that everyone can enjoy:

You can find me on YouTube and view some of my other favorite videos here.

Thing #19 - CML Power Tools

2008-11-04T12:47:00.003-05:00

Time again for some L&P action. This was probably the easiest & fasting thing to complete. I'm already using most of the services on the Power Tools page, so I joined in the Gmail conversation on the Tooling Around blog. Gmail is the best! I'm at work right now, but I need to remember to put the library toolbar on my home computer later. Then my library geekiness will be complete!

Thing #18 - Web 2.0 tools

2008-10-28T13:30:00.004-04:00

Two posts in one day?! Crazy.

For this exercise, we are supposed to pick a Web 2.0 tool from this list and discuss what we learned from it. The hardest part for me was finding a site I either didn't already have an account with, or finding something that didn't overlap with a service I already use!

For fun, I tried HairMixer. I uploaded a picture of myself and tried out different hairstyles. I have to be honest, they were all pretty awful. But I guess that's not the site's fault!

For something more serious (and that might have a library application), I tried out RevolutionHealth. I was surprised at how GREAT the site is! It has a clean, easy to navigate layout, and some awesome features like a symptom checker, BMI calculator, and the ability to create your own personal health record. The information on the site is from trusted sources (MayoClinic, Cleveland Clinic, Familydoctor.org) so I would definitely recommend this site to interested customers.

Thing #17 - Google Docs

2008-10-28T12:50:00.002-04:00

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
I love Google Docs,
And so should you!

Aren't I just the poet? I published that straight from Google Docs, which I (surprisingly) had never done before. It was just as easy as I expected it to be!

Now for some history. You see, Google Docs and I have been friends for a while now. In fact, before it became known as Google Docs, the word processing part of it was known as Writely. I actually became a beta tester for Writely back in 2005, and used it in library school to collaborate more easily on group projects. I still have some of those projects saved, too! I was super excited when Google bought Writely, and I love that they keep expanding it and making it better.

Yes, Google does own my life. And I think that's okay.

Autumn excitement

2008-10-17T08:27:00.005-04:00

I have been MIA for awhile - not really sure why, but I've felt very uninspired to write anything lately. But I thought I'd break the silence and list some things I'm excited about right now:

1. Going to the Circleville Pumpkin Show tonight. I've never been to it, even though I've lived in Columbus for 3ish years now.

2. Halloween! Jared and I are having our party again this year, and I'm hoping it will be even better than previous years. Please come if you are free the night of November 1st, and don't forget to dress up!

3. Making costumes for the aforementioned Halloween Party. I ventured into the realm of costume making last year with this Princess Peach costume for Erica M., and I'm hoping that the costumes I'm making this year turn out just as good or even better! (Also, I hope I have time to finish them before the party!)

4. Being crafty. I haven't just been in a blogging rut lately, I've also been in a crafting rut! But I found some fabulous fabric at Joann's the other day, and I'm hoping to make something fun with it. I probably won't get to it until after Halloween, but I'm still excited that I'm actually inspired to make something. It's been a while.

5. Cooking! Yes, I've actually been cooking more lately, and I'm enjoying it. I always love to bake, but cooking has never been my strong point. It still isn't, but I think I'm improving. Practice makes perfect, right?

What are you excited about right now?

Thing #14 - Library 2.0

2008-10-01T16:33:00.004-04:00

So I'm finally getting around to posting about Library 2.0. I've been putting it off for a while now - I wasn't sure what I really wanted to add to the conversation. But I've been thinking about it more lately, so here are my thoughts on the subject.

The idea of Library 2.0 has been around for quite a while now. In fact, the articles we read for this "thing" were all from 2006 - that should tell you something right there. Of course, a lot of people think we've been 2.0 all along, and that's somewhat true. But the thing that sticks out for me is the customizable part of Library 2.0, and that's where I think our challenge lies.

Now, when I say customizable, I'm not talking purely about using technology. Sure, web 2.0 tools will make it easier to customize the user experience. For instance, our users could have their own customized library web page - when they log in, all of the resources they like best would be on the front page. Maybe it could also save their reserve settings, knowing automatically which location they prefer to have items sent to. Those would be really cool, customizable things. But our non-web services should be that way, too. If someone wants to just come in, pick up their reserve, check it out themselves, and go - they can do that. But what if someone wants to come in and talk to a staff person about what they are reading that week? What if they would really prefer having a live person check their items out for them? Personally, I don't see anything wrong with that. I think we should make sure that we are still giving our customers options on what kind of experience they can have when they are in our buildings, even if the option they want is the "old fashioned" way. That doesn't mean reverting back to a card catalog - it just means making sure our customers feel like they are being taken care of when they are here. Does that make sense? For the record, I think we do a pretty good job of this already. I just don't want those that aren't ready for web 2.0 to lose out on all the wonderful things that Library 2.0 can provide.

There are plenty of other examples of ways to customize the "library experience" that I can't think of right now. Thoughts?

Things #15 & 16 - Wikis!

2008-09-24T16:57:00.002-04:00

As you may or may not have noticed, I've skipped Thing #14. I feel like I have a lot to say about Library 2.0, but for some reason a post is just not coming to me right now. All I can think about are wikis - so that's what I'm going to talk about now. I'll get back to Library 2.0 stuff later.

I really enjoyed the wiki common craft video, and looked at some of the library wikis that are already out there. Overall, I liked what I saw, but I have to say that I'm a firm believer that wikis are not the way to go for everyone. For some reason, when people learn about them, they are like OMG BEST THING EVER and decide that they *have* to start one. In general, I think you should use what works for you - know about the rest, but don't feel like you have to use a certain tool just because it is there.

That being said, I think iwannaprize has a great idea for using wikis as subject resource pages for the public. I also think we could utilize a wiki internally to help us keep better track of resources to use for different kinds of questions, and it would be easy and quick to access when we need it. I'm remembering a question I got not long ago about bonds - we don't get these questions very often, and they are very difficult to answer. If we had a wiki set up, I could add a page about bonds and list the resources I used to find the answer. And other librarians could update it with other resources I didn't know about and/or couldn't find!

I played in the Learn & Play wiki sandbox, and had fun adding my favorite restaurants and movie. However, I found myself wanting to fix everyone's mistakes. I really must learn to control my anal-retentive perfectionist side. :)

Thing #13 - Del.icio.us

2008-09-20T15:44:00.003-04:00

As with many of the "things" we've been doing, I've already had a del.icio.us account for a while now. And yeah, I know that I don't need to put the dots in it anymore... but I like it better that way. :)

I don't put all of my bookmarks in delicious though - I just put stuff on there that I think is cool, or funny, or worth sharing with other people. For example, I wouldn't put big sites like Flickr or Gmail on delicious. But maybe I would share a really awesome picture on Flickr or a certain YouTube video that I liked. It's stuff that I might go back sometime and look at again, but not stuff that I go to everyday. I try to make sure that the things I bookmark on delicious are different than the things I share on Google Reader. (An example: Recently, a blog post I read on Google Reader pointed me toward a fun quiz on another site. Instead of sharing the blog post, I bookmarked the quiz in delicious. Had the blog post itself been particularly noteworthy, I would have just shared it in Google Reader. Does that make sense?)

If you're interested, here's my delicious page. Enjoy!

*edit* I forgot to mention how I think delicious can be used in the library! Doh! Actually, what I wanted to say is how great it is that my division is using delicious! See our page here. I would love to see us add to this page and include other websites that we use frequently with our customers.

Just for fun

2008-09-14T01:27:00.003-04:00

Disclaimer: I have no desire to start up any political conversations here - but this was too funny not to post, especially after playing around with image and word generators last week.

We all know by now that Sarah Palin has named her kids some very unique names. Well, now you can find out what she would have named you! My name would have been Krinkle Bearcat Palin. I have to say, having the middle name "Bearcat" would be pretty frickin' sweet. If you try it out, let me know what your new name is!

Things #11 & 12 - LibraryThing and Twitter

2008-09-12T12:34:00.004-04:00

So I found out after my last post that the stats feature on Flickr has not only been around a while (aka, not new at all), but is only available to people with pro accounts. So... yeah. Sorry about that. But if you have a pro account and haven't seen your stats, you should really get on that.

Anyhow, THIS post is all about LibraryThing and Twitter! I'm combining them into one since I already have accounts with both services. I joined Twitter earlier this year after I finally caught up with the rest of the world and got a texting plan, but I've been on LibraryThing since 2006! In fact, I even got to meet Tim Spalding, creator of LibraryThing, at the 2007 OLC Convention & Expo. Here's my catalog on LibraryThing, and my Twitter page. Feel free to friend me/follow me on either service!

One of the features on LibraryThing that I haven't explored much (but really should!) is LibraryThing Local. What a great opportunity for libraries to advertise our events to the kinds of people that would want to come to them! Also, I just wanted to mention how I love the fact that the largest group on the site is "Librarians Who LibraryThing," with just over 5000 members! Although really, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the kinds of people who want to catalog their own books would also be the kinds of people who become librarians.

Twitter is pretty new to me still but I'm really enjoying it. I like being able to record the random thoughts I have during the day, and read all about what my friends and colleagues are doing. However, when I try to explain how it works to people that don't know anything about it, I usually get blank stares. Maybe it isn't for everyone. But I can definitely see where libraries could use this to easily post quick updates on their website, or maybe just to connect to our customers and let them know what's going on that day at the library.

Flickr stats

2008-09-11T10:53:00.003-04:00

Has everyone tried out the new Flickr homepage yet? I love it. If you haven't, login to Flickr and look at the bottom of the page. You should find a link to try out the new homepage. Click on it, enjoy the music (totally serious), and explore the new page.

One of the best new things I found was an option to turn on statistics about my photos. I'm such a numbers geek, so I had to do this. It told me it might take a while to compile all of the numbers, but I checked back in a few minutes and it was ready. What I found was shocking!

I should give some back story here. When Jared and I were first looking for a place here in Columbus, I took this picture of my foot on the dashboard of my car (I like taking pictures of my feet, apparently). It's really not that exciting of a picture, but somehow it was getting way more views than my other pictures. So about a year ago, I decided to try to take a picture that would surely get more views than any of my other pictures. The result was this picture (safe for work, I promise), which I strategically named "Foot Fetish." Sure enough, it has gathered just over 2,000 views to date, and 7 people call it a favorite. But to my surprise, that is not my highest viewed picture. What picture could possibly get more views than that?

This one, apparently:

Yes, somehow a cart full of Wii gear is way more exciting than a bunch of feet - this picture has gotten over 7,000 views to date! That's a whole hell of a lot more than the foot fetish one. Nobody calls this photo a favorite though, and that doesn't really surprise me. My guess is that the majority of the views came right after this photo was taken, when a lot of people couldn't find a Wii in the stores and were looking around online for photos of one - although the stats don't seem to go back far enough for me to confirm that.

The foot fetish photo is still racking up views, but it will be a long time before it ever surpasses the cart o' Wii goodness. If you want, check out the rest of my stats here.

I'm a star!

2008-09-09T17:51:00.004-04:00

Check out this video on Gerald 2.0 - my coworker Jim and I got to talk to Gerald about the fun we've been having with Learn & Play @CML. Surprisingly, we did the whole thing in just one take! I feel kinda famous now. And no, the glasses aren't permanent - they're the ones I wore for my Professor Trelawney costume. I also wore my now infamous green shoes (Jim's request) but we didn't get them in the video. Oh well. If you are reading this from my site and not in a feed reader, you can enjoy the picture of my shoes in the upper left of the page. :)

In other news, I had a fantastic dinner tonight at Tip Top Kitchen with Jennifer. We love our Tuesday night outings! Now it's time for some work, and as of tomorrow I'm off until next Tuesday. What will I do with all my free time, you ask? As little as possible, of course! Haha. Actually, I'm looking forward to catching up on some crafting, movie watching, and a video game I've been neglecting. Should be fun!

Thing #10 - Image Generators!

2008-09-09T12:30:00.006-04:00

Oh man, I love these things. Here is one of my arch nemesis, Clippy:

Almost everything else I thought of him saying was completely inappropriate - be glad I spared you, haha. Seriously though... I hate Clippy so very, very much.

Next I decided to do one of something I really, really love - so check out my very own personalized My Little Pony:

Isn't she adorable?! The winged unicorns were always my favorite.

There are lots of really fun image & text generators out there. The other ones I liked were the Motivational Poster and the Alanis Morissette Random Lyric generators. I could probably play around with these all day!

Thing #9 - Finding blogs and feeds

2008-09-08T11:58:00.000-04:00

I have to say, I don't really use any blog search websites on a regular basis. Most of the blogs I read I found because another blog that I like linked to them, so I checked them out. I'm trying to think back to when I started reading blogs, and I really can't remember how I found the first ones.

Anyhow - here are my thoughts on the search tools I looked at:

Bloglines Search Tool: If I had a Bloglines account, I might actually use this. But since I don't... well, probably not so much. It works pretty well, although I wish the blog results were right on top instead of the post results.

Topix: Looks like a decent enough news site, and I like the local content. Not sure that I would use this to find feeds though. I would just see what the top stories are, and move on.

Syndic8.com: "Hi - 1998 called, and it wants its HTML code back." Fine if you're into the stripped down IRC look - although this is probably the easiest for newbies to use.

Technorati: Other than the occasional crazy flashing ads, this is a pretty good website. It's the only one where I really get a feel for what is "happening" in the blogosphere (I kinda hate that term though).

Although this wasn't in the list, I noticed that Google Reader has a "discover" feature where it recommends feeds based on the ones you are already subscribed to. Not surprisingly, mine was filled with more library blogs... go figure! This probably wouldn't be very helpful if you are just starting out, but if you are already subscribed to a few blogs you like, this would be a great way to discover more.

Thing #8 - RSS feeds

2008-09-04T17:25:00.003-04:00

I am a huge fan of RSS feeds - I have a Google Reader account (because, well, Google owns my life... haha) and I am currently subscribed to 100+ feeds! Some are library blogs (LibraryBytes, Tame The Web, Librarian In Black, Ohio Library News - just to name a few), some are craft/baking related (Sprite Stitch, Cake Wrecks, The Domestic Scientist, Made in a Treehouse), and some are just plain geeky and fun (BoingBoing, Bad Astronomy, TechCrunch, Neatorama). I also have plenty of friends and CML coworkers blogs on there, as well as some podcasts (This American Life, WebbAlert, Thinking Out Loud). Although Google Reader doesn't allow you to publicly share your entire reading list, I do have a link to my publicly shared items. When I find a post that I like, I can share it so others can read it too. My friends that also have a Google Reader account get these shared items sent to them automatically, and I get theirs as well. It's a great way to share interesting posts with other people and discover blogs that you didn't know about!

I have also added a widget to this blog that shows my most recently shared items from Google Reader. How fun is that? I also forgot to mention that I also subscribe to a few web comics as well, and of course Unshelved is on the list. No librarian can resist Dewey and his antics!

Thing #7 - Technology

2008-09-03T15:45:00.002-04:00

Every time I hear the word "technology," I think of the song from the end of Napoleon Dynamite:

"I love technology, but not as much as you, you see... but I still love technology, always and forever."

Ah, technology. I almost feel like writing a totally cliche post about how technology moves so fast, and how hard it is to catch up, and how I can't believe kids these days are doing this thing instead of that thing, and how they have NO IDEA how hard it was for me when I was their age, blah blah blah. But (thankfully, for you) I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm going to list some cool things I'm excited about:

Google Chrome. I haven't downloaded it yet, but I will soon. I read the comic that they put out to promote it, and it sounds really awesome. I don't know that this will replace Firefox for me, but it should be fun to play around with.

The iPhone. I think I've decided that I'm going to get one, but I'm not sure when. I just think it is so cool that there is a phone that does practically anything you could want it to do. I don't really need it, but who cares? Nobody NEEDS an iPhone. I just want one! :)

Picnik. This is a site where you can edit images for free, and it's super easy to use. I don't have Photoshop or any other photo editing software, but I wanted to take a picture I had and make it into a logo for my blog. I found Picnik (which I had heard of before, but never used), and within minutes I was able to do exactly what I wanted with my photo. Sure, it's not as sophisticated as Photoshop - but it was fast, easy, and did just what I needed it to do. Sometimes I'm amazed at how much you can do online for free!

What cool things are you excited about?

Thing #6 - Playing with Flickr tools

2008-08-27T15:08:00.004-04:00

Well, I played around with some of the mashups, tools, and third-party sites suggested - my favorites were the trading card maker and FlickrSLiDR. Here are my creations:

My librarian trading card!

I love that photo - I was dressed up as Madame Trelawney from Harry Potter for the 7th book release party at Barnes & Noble. Can you see the resemblance?

A slideshow of my photos tagged "library":

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Thing #5 - Fun with Flickr!

2008-08-27T14:37:00.004-04:00

Columbus Metropolitan Library,
originally uploaded by silver marquis.

I have to admit, I'm cheating a bit here - I took this photo over a year ago! But it's one of my favorites, so I wanted to use it for this post. Flickr is about the best thing ever, and I'm glad to see all of my coworkers discovering how wonderful it is and having fun with it. I have a pro account, and it's the only online service I actually pay money for. I've always loved to take pictures and share them with friends, but it wasn't always so easy getting someone to sit down and look through a photo album with you. Now my friends can enjoy my pictures at their leisure! Also, it's really exciting when someone you don't know finds a picture you took and either comments on it, marks it as a favorite, or uses it on their website or blog. This blog used my photo, and so did this article. Very cool!

So that's Thing #5, and now I'm moving on to Thing #6 - playing with Flickr mashups!

Fabulous finds

2008-08-26T15:46:00.005-04:00

Recently I helped my mother sort through my grandmother's things. She passed away about a year and a half ago, and we are just now going through everything in her bedroom, deciding what to keep, what to donate to Hospice, and what to pitch. It's a difficult and emotional process, but also exciting - my mother and I came across some really cool stuff (click on the photos to enlarge):

I found this "recipe card," written by my grandfather, tucked away in a side pocket of one of my grandmother's old purses. It's so cute and romantic! The best part is the last line - "Bake the hell out of it!" My grandpa's a funny guy.

These little cards are so adorable! I found these in my grandmother's dresser, wrapped up in tissue paper for safekeeping. My mother said that grandma wasn't sure what she wanted to do with them, only that she really liked them and wanted to keep them nice. I haven't decided what to do with them yet, either - maybe a craft project? We'll see.

My grandmother had so many purses, most of which we decided to give to Hospice. But this particular purse caught my eye. It's a faux leather clutch, and I fell in love with it! Check out the awesome lining fabric - it really makes it stand out. It even has this cute mirror attachment on the inside. Unfortunately, the outside of the purse is starting to flake, so I have to be careful with it. I'm probably only going to use it for special occasions. Still, an awesome find!

There's more pictures on my Flickr page, including one of some "interesting" turtles my grandfather gave me...

Thanks for the laugh

2008-08-20T15:26:00.003-04:00

Fun story: Today I went to Wendy's for lunch. I pulled up to the window to pay and gave the guy my debit card. He looked at me sorta funny, ran the card, then said, "I'm sorry, your card was denied." What?! I looked at him in disbelief - there's no WAY my card should have been denied! Then he started laughing, and said, "Nah, just kidding!" I could have been mad, I guess, but instead I cracked up. He said, "See? I made you smile." You sure did, random Wendy's employee. You sure did.

And, for your amusement, here's what I would look like if I had been in high school in the 60's, courtesy of Yearbookyourself.com:

Now that's one sexy lady, am I right? :D

Things #3 and #4, and more

2008-08-19T13:28:00.003-04:00

Things 3 and 4 were pretty easy to accomplish - start a blog and record it in the tracking log. Done and done. I'm not sure that I really even need to post about it, but I am anyway for consistency. So... yeah. There you go.

Just so this post doesn't feel like a complete waste, here is a list of some blogs/websites/comics that you all need to check out right now:

Cake Wrecks. Just do it - you'll thank me later.

The Domestic Scientist. Renee is talented & funny - check out all of her awesome creations!

The Martha Blog. Yes, that Martha. Yes, I'm serious.

Indexed. Most of you probably read this already, but did you know that Jessica Hagy is from Columbus? Well, now you do.

Xkcd. The ultimate geek web comic. If you don't read this, there is something wrong with you, and we can no longer be friends.

Lifelong Learning - Thing #2

2008-08-15T14:29:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am participating in Learn & Play @ CML. As I go, I will be posting about each of the 23 "things" that we do, in hopes of getting cool prizes at the end. This is my first official post about one of the things - namely, Thing #2. Thing #1 was simply familiarizing myself with the program, so I didn't really need to post about that. (Hmm, this is starting to sound like a Dr. Seuss book - Thing #1 and Thing #2.) I hope even my non-library staff readers will find my posts about the "things" somewhat interesting, even if you already know all this stuff.

Anyhow, I just watched an online tutorial about lifelong learning. Ironically, I had already watched it before on my own when I first learned about the Learning 2.0 program. But I watched it again, and it got me thinking about people I help everyday at work. So many of them have just given up on learning, especially when it comes to computers. Most of the time it's people who need jobs, and employers expect them to be able to fill out a job application online even though they've never touched a computer before. Some of these people just want you to do everything for them, which can be really frustrating. How do you convince someone to learn when they don't want to? How do you make it exciting for them?

But not everyone is that way! We have so many customers that come to our technology training classes - they want to learn, and even if it's difficult for them, they are making progress. It's extremely rewarding to see people take charge of their lives and better themselves - and know that you played a small part in the process.

As for me, there are a lot of things I want to learn. Right now, I need to learn more about investing. Not only for my own financial gains, but because I deal with investment and business questions on a daily basis - I certainly don't want to be stumped when someone asks me to look up the price of a bond! Also, one of the 23 things is learning about wikis, and although I already know what a wiki IS, I am definitely curious about why and how libraries are using them.

Now for the assignment part of the project: what is easiest and hardest for me to do? Out of the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners, I think it's easiest for me to teach and mentor others. I love sharing what I know with other people! On the other hand, it's hardest for me to have confidence in myself as an effective learner. I can get easily frustrated if I don't "get" something right away. That's definitely something I need to work on!

So, dear readers - what are you learning about right now, or what do you want to learn more about? Do you consider yourself a lifelong learner?

Work + Play makes Erica a happy girl

2008-08-11T10:12:00.003-04:00

My library is finally starting Helene Blowers' Learning 2.0 program - only we're re-branding it (as we are so good at doing) to "Learn & Play @ CML" - woohoo! I've been hoping we'd do this program since before we even hired Helene, so I'm pretty excited. Of course, it won't really be hard for me to participate... I've pretty much done all of the 23 things already. But it will be really neat to see my coworkers use some of these services for the first time. I *heart* the interwebz.

Anyway, since everyone else at work is blogging about the program, I had to be sure to put in my 2 cents as well. The program starts tomorrow (with an kick off presentation by Michael Stephens, awesome), and I'll be adding this blog to the official blog roll. Hmm, I sure hope I haven't said anything on here that I'll regret... haha. :D

Trying to get away is harder than you might think

2008-07-26T13:12:00.003-04:00

Jared and I are considering taking a mini-vacation in September/October - we were originally planning on going down to Gatlinburg, but we recently decided that it might be more cost-effective to just visit Hocking Hills for a weekend. It's closer, which would mean less money spent on gas, and even though it's not quite as breathtaking as the Smoky Mountains, it's still a very scenic place to visit. So for the past week or so I've been pricing cabins in the area, hoping to find something relatively inexpensive. This has proved to be a difficult task - most cabins range from $150-$200 a night, even in late October. Yikes! Anyhow, as I was checking the availability of cabins from a particular company, I saw this message at the bottom of their page (emphasis added):

"Please note: There is a 2 night minimum on the weekend at the weekend rates. A weekend is considered Thursday/Friday, Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday. Holiday weekends are a 3 night minimum. Lodges are 3 night minimum - Memorial Day through Labor Day.

We apologize that our rate structure is illogical and the system can not always quote your rates correctly."

Wow. Really? Can't you just... make them logical?

I think maybe we'll be camping instead. At the very least, we won't be renting a cabin from THIS company.

Weirdness, insults, and fun with words

2008-07-12T11:20:00.011-04:00

If you have facebook, you've likely seen the ads that show up on the left side of the screen. Most of the time, they are pretty standard. But one day, I found this:

Apparently, this is an actual thing. Here's the petition, if you want to look at it. In case you're wondering, I'm not going to sign it. Now, if it were a petition to get the Bad Astronomer on Stargate, that's a whole different story. Sign me up!

Completely different but almost as random are the junk emails I've been getting at work. Here are a few recent ones I've received:

Umm, I didn't think junk mail was supposed to flat out insult you. Usually it just suggests that you might want to "increase ur size!!" or that you could really use some cheap Viagra. But to come out and just tell me that I look stupid?! How do they know how I look? Maybe I look great today, thankyouverymuch. Has anyone else seen junk mail like this?

Oh! Check out my Wordle:

I made it out of all of my tags on Delicious. Obviously, I like me some humor and libraries. But was there really any doubt about that?

I can has decent PowerPoint presentation? KTHX.

2008-07-09T23:53:00.006-04:00

I attended the first day of my second official library conference today - the OLC Reference and Adult Services conference. I have to say, even for a smaller affair than the first conference I attended (the big OLC Annual Conference last October), it was really nice. The food they served for lunch was great (bonus!), I was much less scared to talk to people I didn't know, and the programs and speakers were really good.

...except the last program of the day. I hate critizing presenters, because I know hard they must have worked to prepare, and sometimes things just don't go as planned - but let me explain. This particular presentation was a combination of uninteresting antecdotes, bad jokes, and the worst PowerPoint presentation I've seen since library school. His topic was adult programming in the library, and although he did stay on topic and gave some good advice about how to come up with programming ideas, he spent far too much time talking about the individual programs that he had put together, and not enough time talking about the logistics of hosting a program and marketing it to the community. After a while it just felt like he was showing off - he kept raving about all of the programs he'd put together for his library, and then would drift off into a story about the people involved in the program or try to tell a not-so-funny joke. (I'm sure it didn't help that I had a huge headache at that point... but I digress.) And when I say "bad PowerPoint," I'm talking flying/rotating text transitions (SIGH), all white backgrounds, and nothing but Times New Roman font. The slides were set up in a basic outline format, and other than some pictures of posters his marketing department created for his programs, the slideshow really didn't add anything useful to the presentation. The scary part is that he stressed how librarians need to learn to use PowerPoint (O RLY!?!), and that he teaches a technology class for patrons at his branch. To top it off, he muttered several times during the program "I hate technology!" after he'd accidentally jump forward too many slides - meant as a joke, I'm sure, but isn't that a bad sign? Especially if you consider yourself a technology instructor?

The rest of the day, however, was amazing. Joan Frye Williams gave a wonderful talk in the morning, as she always does, and I enjoyed every minute of it. After lunch, I was inspired by a program I attended on marketing your collection - now I have all sorts of good ideas to take back to work with me on how to display some of our newer titles and get more customers interested in them. And I also attended a very enlightening panel discussion about how the business community sees the public library, and what they would like to see us do to serve them better. So one rotten apple didn't ruin the bunch for me! I can't wait to learn more tomorrow morning.

Summer fun-ness

2008-07-02T10:55:00.001-04:00

You may be wondering what I've been up to. Or maybe you haven't been. Either way, you are about to find out. Oh, the magic of blogging!

First of all, I visited Chicago two weeks ago - and it was amazing! There is so much I didn't get to do (I needed to stay there a week longer!), but what I did do was completely awesome. One of the places I had to visit was the Threadless store. If you've never heard of them, check out their website - if you like unique t-shirts or creating your own designs, you'll love it! Anyway, I visited the store and bought myself a shirt. They also have art prints for sale based on the t-shirt designs. The best part is that they release the newest designs in the store before they release them online - so I got my shirt early, and actually wore it on the day it was "officially" released! Very cool.

Another place I made sure to visit was the Chicago Public Library. This is apparently the largest library in the country (and with 79 branches, there's really no doubt in my mind about that), and the main library is called the Harold Washington Library Center in downtown Chicago. I visited the library on a Sunday - I expected the place to be packed (my library is a madhouse on Sundays!) but found that it was quite peaceful. There were 9 floors - I didn't visit them all, but I could tell that each was laid out the same way. The exception was the 9th floor, which was a beautiful open room with a few tables and a glass ceiling. Surprisingly, only one person was using the space to study when I went up there. If I lived in Chicago, I would be up there everyday! You could even see the top of the Sears tower through the glass. The library had a very modern feel, but I have to say that I wasn't really impressed with the layout of the floors or the use of the space. The walls and decor were... well, not very exciting either. Not bad, just not as impressive as I had hoped it would be. But overall, it was a very nice building.

Check out all of my Chicago pictures on my Flickr page.

In other news, last weekend I was in the Pride parade with Spin Columbus. We did pretty well and everyone seemed to enjoy our performance - we got a lot of compliments afterwards, which made everyone feel really great. This weekend I will be performing with them again in the Doo Dah parade on July 4th - come out and see us if you can (and if it doesn't get rained out)!

Erica's realization of the month: Sunglasses are AWESOME. I bought a pair for myself on the way to Chicago, and I instantly felt both way cooler than usual and much more vacation-y. Now I wear them all the time, and I'm not quite sure how I have lived almost 26 years without them. In fact, I'm pretty sure people smile at me more when I wear them - this is probably either because of the aforementioned coolness factor, or perhaps because they can't see my eyes (and thus can't see the weird look I would have normally been giving them). I have also started noticing just how bright the world is without them - and when I drag my groggy self into work in the morning, the last thing I want to see while driving there is anything bright and sunny.

What exciting revelations have you had this summer?

Tagged!

2008-06-03T22:59:00.008-04:00

I just got tagged by made in a treehouse, so it's question and answer time! Yay!

What was I doing 10 years ago?
Wow, 10 years ago I was just about to turn 16! I remember that I was glad to be out of school for the summer, because I had been feuding with some friends and needed a break. But I was also busy planning my sweet 16 party, which I wanted to be huge... and it was!

What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
Well, it's the end of the day - so here are 5 things that were on my to-do list:

1. Build arcade game out of cardboard boxes at work - it's our display for Summer Reading Club, and I started working on it today with a coworker. A little late, I know, but we should have no trouble getting it done for the kickoff Saturday. I hope it turns out good!
2. Put up SRC posters - done and done.
3. Organize old family video tapes so they can be put on DVDs - I'm working on this one all week.
4. Help Jared update his resume - currently working on that.
5. Play Wii Fit - it was on the list, but I probably won't get to it tonight, unfortunately. It's so much fun though!

What are my favorite snacks?
Oh man - I love eating Doritos dipped in cream cheese. That is my comfort snack. I also love pudding - right now I'm obsessed with rice pudding. Really, I would much rather just snack throughout the day than eat full-sized meals. I have heard that it is more healthy to eat this way, but it hasn't worked out well for me thus far.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire?
Pay off my students loans - and probably Jared's too, just because I'm that nice. I would buy a house and pay off any other debt I have, then give money to my mom because she deserves it. I would probably also buy cool gifts for my friends and throw some big ridiculous party in the new house. It's too bad I'm not a billionaire, because that all sounds so awesome.

Places I have lived:
Born in Akron, Ohio
Portage Lakes, Ohio for a few months after I was born
Canal Fulton, Ohio
Atlanta, Georgia for about a year when I was 2
Canal Fulton again for a few years
Sugarcreek, Ohio from 2nd-5th grade
New Philadelphia, Ohio from 6th-12th grade
Oxford, Ohio for college (Miami U!)
New Philadelphia, Ohio for the summer after graduation
Columbus, Ohio for grad school - present :)

Hmm, who to tag? Well, let's go with The Chaser Nation and Two-Headed Blog, just because I can. I look forward to seeing embarrassing pictures of you from 10 years ago! (Kidding... kinda!)

Time? What time?

2008-05-29T11:31:00.004-04:00

Is it the end of May already? Lately it seems that I have been too busy to even think. Between work and being the Company Mangaer for Spin Columbus, I haven't been home or online nearly as much as usual. In fact, last night I watched 18 WebbAlerts - that's how far behind I had gotten! But I was determined to watch them all, because Morgan Webb is my hero.

By the way, I love my DVR - since I'm gone all of the time, I miss most of the shows I really enjoy watching. But no more. Like the new American Gladiators - I can watch it anytime if I'm gone on Monday night. Oh and if you don't watch that show yet, you really should. After watching this week's show (and being introduced to the new, "silent" gladiator named Steel), I thought it would be funny to come up with some rejected gladiator names. I can't remember what I came up with right now, but they were probably funny. Unfortunately, Carson Daly did that exact gag on his show that night! I don't know what makes me more upset - that someone beat me to the punch, or the fact that it was Carson Daly that beat me to the punch. Sadness.

Now that I'm caught up with TV and the internet, I need to start reading - I have an ever-growing pile of books that I just haven't had time to sit down and dive into yet. Maybe soon?

Discoveries

2008-05-19T11:21:00.005-04:00

I made a very interesting find today - on my library's teen website, in the "Express It" section, there is a place for teens to submit poetry they have written. Some are silly, some are kinda depressing, but all of them are just amazing! I don't really know that much about poetry, but I am really enjoying reading through what the teens have submitted. And some of the regular posters comment on each other's poems, which is really cool.

A random list of things I have learned over the past month that may or may not be interesting:

1. No matter what flavor of milkshake you order from McDonald's, they will give you a mix of all of the flavors. A few weeks ago I swear I got a Chocolate-Strawberry-Mint milkshake. Yikes.

2. I LOVE meetings. Of any kind. Even unproductive ones. Most people hate them, but I just love them. Knowing that I have a meeting makes my day go better. Someday, perhaps, I'll be sick of them, but not anytime soon.

3. I really like the clicking sound that high heels make on hard floors.

4. If you want to light a gas grill, you should turn the gas on first. You should not just turn knobs and hit the ignition button over and over, wondering why the damn thing won't light. Just a suggestion.

5. Green is the new black.

6. If you have a bumper sticker on the back of your old crappy car that talks about how much we all pollute the air, you are a hypocrite. You're polluting the air just as much as the rest of us.

7. I enjoy going to the grocery store by myself. It's strangely relaxing and makes me feel like a grown-up. And yes, I know that I'm already a grown-up, but that doesn't mean I always feel like one.

8. I like to sew because the sound of my sewing machine will always remind me of my mother.

9. I am obsessed with Professor Layton and the Curious Village, and I want the sequel to come out RIGHT NOW.

10. I can't wait to see the new Indiana Jones movie! Eeeeee! :D

Misery loves the BMV

2008-04-22T12:19:00.004-04:00

I'm just going to say it: going to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles can be a nightmare.

I don't know why, but every person that works at the BMV seems to hate their life. And because of that hate, they make your visit miserable. Nobody smiles in the BMV. You take your number, wait for your turn, and pray that you brought the 5 forms of ID that they require. Oh, you wanted to pay by credit card? Sorry. No license for you. Did you spend time this morning trying to look nice for the photo? Forget it. You're going to look like a deer caught in headlights no matter how you do your makeup. The best thing you can hope for is to leave in a mildly bad mood. At least then there might be a chance of your day improving. It helps if you have something fun to do after you leave.

I can't completely blame the workers. But it would be nice if they had some customer service skills. Is a smile too much to ask for?

Anyhow, this morning I went to the BMV with Jared so he could renew his tags. We went early, in hopes that the workers there might not be quite as jaded first thing in the morning. We made sure he had his checkbook (they do take personal checks as payment) and 2 forms of ID. Luckily, we didn't have to wait, and he had everything he needed with him. Sure, the lady that helped us had a scowl on her face the whole time, but it was a quick and painless process.

We walked out into the parking lot, and turned to look at each other. "That was the least miserable BMV experience I've ever had," I said. Jared agreed. We finished the morning by going to First Watch for breakfast, which was deliciously awesome.

Until next time, BMV...

Mediocrity, maybe

2008-04-09T00:44:00.004-04:00

I decided to do a little facebook stalking tonight, and I ended up kinda... bummed out. There are a lot of people I'm friends with on facebook because we went to high school or college together, and since I don't talk to most of them anymore it's nice to see what they are doing now. The problem is that many of them are doing things that are so cool or exciting that it makes me feel extremely boring in comparison. For instance, I know a guy who studies endangered birds - how cool is that? There's also a girl I know that went to school to be a governess. A governess! Then there's the people who have moved to California or Florida or are studying abroad or other things that I just wouldn't have thought of. It's so exciting, and I'm happy for all of them.

And then there's me. What do I do with my life? I become a librarian in the same state that I grew up in and have lived all my life. Does anyone look at my facebook profile and think, "Wow, look at Erica! I'm totally jealous of her awesome life!" Probably not. Most people think, "Wow, you're a librarian... wait, you need a degree for that?"

But the thing is, I really love my job. And I'm very happy here in Ohio, even if it's the same state where I was born and raised. (At least I'm in a different city, right?) So be jealous of me, facebook friends. I (enthusiastically) deal with the general public on a daily basis and live to tell the tale - that's pretty damn impressive.

Concert Mania

2008-04-04T21:37:00.004-04:00

I absolutely love going to concerts in the summer. LOVE IT. I'm not sure that a summer has gone by since my senior year of high school that I haven't gone to a concert. And since I save all of my ticket stubs in a special concert scrapbook, I could probably confirm that fact. Anyhow, here's the lineup so far:

THIS SUNDAY - Kids in the Hall will be at the Wexner Center at 8pm (OMG OMG OMG) and I just bought tickets for Jared and I to go. *squeal*

July 13th - Poison!!!! Hell yes. They were so awesome last summer, and I can't wait to see them again!

August 9th - Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams! Yes, I know what you are thinking. And yes, I am totally going. My mom is obsessed with Rod Stewart - always has been - and I've wanted to see Bryan Adams in concert since I was 12. I'M SO THERE. I'm surprising mom with tickets for Mother's Day, so don't frickin' tell her or I'll kill you, m'kay?

I hope there are more. I'm missing out on seeing Third Eye Blind this Tuesday night, but I'll live. I've seen them before. I will also get to see a band at the Ebay convention, but they haven't announced who will be there yet, so I don't know how excited to be. But hey, I'll be in Chicago, so it's all good. I'm going to be having a blast regardless!

Clean Slate

2008-04-01T10:58:00.003-04:00

I decided that I was sick and tired of the "normal" blogger templates, so I found myself a new one. What do you all think? I am enjoying how clean and refreshing it feels. Like a nice, hot shower. Which I need to go do, since I have to get to work!

Excitement for this week - my department gets to meet with Helene Blowers today, of whom I am a huge fangirl. (As a side note, I'm hoping she doesn't think I'm a complete idiot - she came up to me the other week and said, "Hi Erica! I know you from facebook!" and I just stared at her for a minute because I didn't recognize her right away. Talk about embarrassing!) Also, tomorrow is a kick-off meeting for a project I got invited to be involved with, so I'm pretty psyched for that too.

Did anyone else notice that the Internet April Fool's Jokes were just not up to par this year? My favorite though is in Google Docs - if you open up a new document, then go to the file tab, you will have the option to create a paper airplane. I like AF jokes better when they are fun and somewhat hidden - especially when we all know that Google puts out a million jokes today.

Did anyone get you good today? Online or in person?

Who needs money?

2008-03-26T01:01:00.004-04:00

Not long ago, I ordered a t-shirt from a website called T-Shirt Hell - this shirt, to be precise (in pink!). When I got to the payment options screen, one of the options was "Sexual Favors". Of course I clicked on it, and this is the message I got:

Hilarious!

Vote Librarian in 08!

2008-03-21T15:08:00.003-04:00

I just read on Ohio Library News that Jennifer Sechler, a children's librarian from the Westerville Public Library, is one of 10 finalists to be the CMO - Chief Magic Official - for Disney! If chosen, she'll get to entertain and bring magic to families visiting Disney parts around the world. AKA, the best job ever. You can read a statement from Jennifer in the post from Ohio Library News. I don't know Jennifer, but librarians stick together - especially librarians from Central Ohio! Please vote for her at:

http://www.dreamcmo.com/jennifer

You can vote as many times as you want until voting ends tomorrow. So get to it! Help a librarian out, would ya?

Muppet Time

2008-03-17T07:36:00.003-04:00

A quick post because it's been far too long:

Happy St. Patrick's Day, whatever that means to you, and enjoy this video of the Muppets' rendition of "Danny Boy," one of my favorite stetches from The Muppet Show.

Thanks to BoingBoing for posting this earlier today.

I'm actually kinda sad today, because I usually make a big deal out of St. Patrick's Day. I typically wear green (I still might do that...), I've hosted parties, I've gone out drinking with friends, I try to get everyone else excited about it - I've even been featured in a news article because I blogged about a party I was hosting in 2006. But this year, I'm just not feeling it. I have no plans to go out, nor did I have or attend any parties this weekend. Not that there were any parties I could go to anyway - everyone else I know has seemed to forget about St. Patrick's Day, too.

But you know what? 2008 has been a great year. So what if St. Patrick's Day is a bust? I'm going to kick back tonight, maybe with a drink (Baileys feels appropriate), and celebrate by enjoying a nice evening with Jared and Super Smash Bros. Brawl (cause, well, that's just inevitable). Cheers!

Can't you just get on that Google thing and find out?

2008-02-12T16:30:00.002-05:00

One of the fun parts about my new job is that I get to go around to each division at the main library and go through a brief orientation. Yesterday was my day to learn about the children's division (known here as the Center for Discovery). I got a tour, talked with one of the managers about children's programming, and observed a baby laptime program. Now, as far as I can tell, "baby laptime" might as well be called "bounce your baby on your lap..time," because that's mainly what it consisted of. It's a great program - the babies seemed to love it, and it gave the parents/caregivers a chance to mingle. I sat in the back, and occasionally some of the babies either crawled over to me, or just stared at me. One in particular stared at me for quite some time, so I started to make funny faces, hoping he would laugh. Instead, he started to cry. Whoops! I guess that's why I'm not a children's librarian.

One of the not-so-fun parts about my job is dealing with people who insist that you can find what they need "in the computer." As if a computer is a magical encyclopedia that contains all of the world's knowledge, and "that Internet thing" surely will tell them exactly what they need to know, if only I would look in the right place. Sure, there's a lot you can find on the Internet... but not everything. If it's not there, it's not there. That's a difficult concept for some people to grasp, especially for those who are not familiar with computers or have never used the Internet. I have had angry people tap furiously on my monitor screen, exclaiming, "Just look in there! It will tell you!" I can do my best, folks, but I can't do magic.

If nothing else, my job will never, ever be boring. I'm in a great field. :)

Even the Saudis want overpriced coffee

2008-02-09T12:39:00.001-05:00

I just read this story, courtesy of Pharyngula, a science blog I now read on a regular basis.

My question here is this: if the family area in Starbucks is the only place women can sit with men, why was she arrested? Wasn't she abiding the law? Putting aside the fact that I think religious laws (especially ones like this) are completely bogus and unfair, and forgetting that she is American and probably an easy target, I still don't understand why she was arrested for sitting with a man when she was sitting in the only place in the restaurant that women are allowed to sit with men. I read some of the comments on this story, and while most were pretty retarded, a few made a good point - if you are going to accept a job in a country with laws like these, you should know what you are getting yourself into. But I don't know this woman's situation, and I (of course) completely disagree with how she was/is being treated.

Even with all our problems, I'm very glad to be living in a country where I have the freedom to be a woman, and not be ashamed of it.

The good life

2008-01-18T12:24:00.001-05:00

The holidays are over - well, they've been over for quite a while, but for some reason it feels like I just got mentally caught up. Does that make any sense? Probably not. In any case, even though I announced this on my other blog (and even though most of the people reading this have known for weeks), I have a new job! I am now officially a librarian - how about that? I've been claiming to be a librarian since I got my degree in May, but now I'm getting paid like one. That's very important.

Now that I am a librarian by job title, it is amazing just how many random and obscure questions I get asked on a daily basis. I love it.

So yeah, life is good. :)

To any new readers or commenters: Sorry this blog has been so lame recently. I'll try to remedy that, but I'm not making any promises.

To any old readers: See above.

Hmm. Not much else to say today. I'm looking forward to the weekend, and to a lot of fun things that should happen this year. I'm also really enjoying my new job and all of the challenges I've encountered so far.

What are you excited about this year?

About Who?

2007-12-05T22:51:00.000-05:00

I have found that I'm pretty awful when it comes to describing myself. Some people just have a talent for it, and I am not one of those people. For instance, anytime I sign up for a new service and have to fill in an "About Me" section, I usually just groan and put it off. However, there are a few times when I think I've really nailed it.

My last.fm one is my favorite - I was up late and in a weird mood, so I just started listing things. This is what I came up with:

Things I love:

Music (obviously)
B movies
Daisies
Driving with the window down
Bodies of water
Chinese buffets
Road trips
Occasional blogging
Being crafty
Librarian-ing
Rollercoasters
French fries with salt and vinegar
Dancing (badly)
Singing (even worse)
Stickers
My Garfield pillow

I like that. A nice list of my interests, and nothing too deep or personal. I also hate when people ramble, so I kept it to one topic. Another one I like is my facebook one:

I am an uber-geek, a librarian, a procrastinator, and a wanna-be crafter. I love books and libraries and science and computers - and any combination of those things.

Short and to the point - you don't get much better than that. I don't like the one I wrote for Blogger, but since I refuse to write the same thing twice, I won't be changing it anytime soon.

With any luck, you've learned a great deal about me from this post.

Turkeygiving

2007-11-21T16:20:00.000-05:00

Today marks my two year anniversary at my library, and I started thinking this morning about how excited I was two years ago when I found out I got the job. I was working at Target at the time, and I was so happy to be out of there before Thanksgiving! The past two years have really flown by - in some ways, I feel like I've been working here forever, but I also feel like I just started. Does that make sense? In any case, I love my job and the people I work with, and I hope that when I move up in the ranks (fingers crossed) I will enjoy my job just as much or perhaps even more.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving? Going home, visiting family, eating lots of turkey? Jared and I aren't having a very big Thanksgiving celebration, but we are cooking at the new house and I think it's going to be really nice.

PS - WTF Kindle? You were supposed to be so awesome, but you're full of DRM and hidden costs? I thought I knew you.

Lady in waiting

2007-11-19T22:43:00.000-05:00

Here's another video about the writer's strike, this time from the writers of the Colbert Report:

I'm very interested to see how long this goes on.

In other news, I had an interview for a job I really, really want today, and I think it went pretty well. Now I just have to wait and see if they thought it went well. Patience is a virtue!

Teachers are people too

2007-11-16T11:43:00.000-05:00

Apparently, teachers in Ohio are being encouraged not to join social networking sites or participate in other online communities or dating websites.

Does this make you as angry as it makes me? If it doesn't, maybe it should.

Okay, I get it. We don't want our teachers having inappropriate relationships with students. That shouldn't have to be said. But come on - MySpace and Facebook aren't causing that. Teachers have lives outside of their profession, and they shouldn't have to worry that their online presence will cause them to be accused of being "immoral" or "unprofessional." Instead, teachers should be encouraged to join social networks. Why? Because it's what their students are doing! Teachers need to understand what these services are and why their students are interested in them. In the library world, we are doing everything we can to join these sites and see what makes them so popular. We understand that to make the library more relevant, we need to go where our communities are going - and right now, that's online. And for teachers and librarians who grew up with the Internet, we shouldn't be expected to stop our online activities for our jobs. Furthermore, it's appalling to me that teachers would be discouraged from joining dating websites. Trying to find love on a dating website doesn't equate to doing inappropriate things with students. It just doesn't.

My point is this - we're all people, and we shouldn't have to change who we are or what we do in our free time because of our jobs. Now, if what we're doing is wildly inappropriate, then we should be reprimanded for our actions. But being a teacher doesn't automatically make you a better person than anyone else, and it's certainly not fair to those people who have dedicated their lives to educating our children to be told what they can and can't do outside of work.

It's too bad I'm not getting paid for this

2007-11-16T10:28:00.000-05:00

Most of you have already seen this, but in case you haven't, here's a video about the writer's strike from one of the writers of the Daily Show:

What do you think about this? Personally, I think if you write content for a show, you should get paid for that content. If you write content for a website, you should also get paid for that content. However, I'm don't know whether or not they are striking about not getting paid for content they created specifically to be used online or content they created for TV being put online. Does that distinction even matter?

Chipotle philosophy

2007-11-12T01:37:00.001-05:00

So I've lapsed a bit in my blogging, but that's okay. I think I knew I wouldn't really post everyday for a whole month - but look at how much I have posted! My goal was to get in the habit of updating this blog more regularly, and I think I'm accomplishing that. Go me.

Highlights of my weekend:

I. Got. To. Meet. John. Glenn. Yes, you read that correctly. John Glenn and his wife were in attendance at the Celebration of Learning (aka, the big library event that I volunteered at Friday evening) and I got to show him to his seat, shake his hand, and introduce myself. I was beside myself with happiness, and I remember saying something about him being an inspiration to me, and that I got my degree in physics, at which point he shook my hand a second time and told me it was a pleasure to meet me. A pleasure! To meet me! Later I saw him again, and he recognized me and the girl I was standing with (we both got to shake his hand and say hello). He also cracked a joke about his wife - they were walking up the stairs, and when we mentioned that they could take the elevator if they wanted, he said, "Oh, she needs the exercise." It was so cute!

Even if I hadn't met John Glenn (but I did! I did! Yay!), the Celebration of Learning would still have been a blast. I got to hear Walter Isaacson speak about his new book, Einstein: His Life and Universe, and I got to hang out with important library people and eat some delicious foods from area restaurants. Although I always feel a bit out of place at fancy events like this, I still managed to have a great time and meet some new people. Like John Glenn. (And yes, I promise that's the last time I'll mention it.)

I also went to a fantastically planned wedding Saturday night (and coming from a wedding critic like me, that means a lot), and my mother came down to visit for a day, so it's been a pretty exciting and busy few days. In the morning, mom and I are going to sell some books at Half Price Books, maybe hit up Panera Bread (yum!), and then probably relax at the house before she has to drive back home.

Random thought - have you even just stepped back, looked at your life and thought, "Wow - how did I get here? I could have never predicted that this is where I would be right now." I did this today in the line at Chipotle. There were some high school kids talking behind me in line, and it hit me that it's been 7 1/2 years since I graduated high school. That's a really long time! After getting over feeling incredibly old, I started thinking about where I thought I would be at this age back then. I think that sometimes you really can predict what you'll be doing in any number of years - but then again, things can change so much in such a short amount of time. When I graduated high school, I knew I was going to Miami, but I didn't have any idea of what major I would be in, let alone the fact that I was going to be there 5 years instead of 4, and that I would go to grad school afterwards for 2 more years. Even when I graduated from Miami, I didn't know the future of my relationship with Jared, and that I would be living with him in just a few short months. And now, here we are, living in a beautiful house in a nice neighborhood in Columbus, and we have no idea where the next few years will take us. It makes me wonder who I'll be in 7 1/2 more years, and what I'll be thinking when I look back at this time in my life.

November mania

2007-11-09T13:26:00.000-05:00

Today my mind is preoccupied with everything that's happening in my life right now - I'm waiting to hear about a job, I'm volunteering for a big library event tonight, and tomorrow I'm going to a wedding. It's not that much to worry about, but for some reason I can't clear my head of those things. Plus I feel like I'm losing my weekend, since I'll be at this event until late tonight, busy with the wedding tomorrow, and I have to work on Sunday. I do have Monday off for Veteran's Day though, which will help me to relax a little bit.

I know a lot of people think I'm crazy for this, but I'm really excited to go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. I'm not sure how it's going to work this year though - usually, I drive up north for Thanksgiving, then I go shopping with mom and Natalie (my cousin). Last year, Nat's daughter Brooke came too, and it was a blast. Daphne even met up with us for part of the day! But this year, mom and grandpa are coming down to my house for Thanksgiving, and I'm not sure that Natalie is going to come. We've also never tried day after Thanksgiving shopping in Columbus, and I'm worried that the craziness of that day might reach levels we've never experienced before. Can mom and I handle it alone? I think we're at least up for the challenge. Does anyone want to join us? ;)

I hate how all the stores are ready for Christmas already - and yet here I am, blogging about how excited I am to start Christmas shopping! Does that make any sense? Perhaps I should just try to get through Thanksgiving first.

Fandom

2007-11-08T18:34:00.000-05:00

Did anyone else see that Kevin Smith joined facebook? I read his blog, so I found out about it and added him as a friend pretty quickly. Within a matter of days, he maxed out his account at 5,000 friends - so he created a "celebrity/public figure" account, which is way lamer. In any case, he's keeping his original page up, which means I still get to be one of his facebook friends! It's totally stalkerish, but if 4,999 other people are doing it, I don't feel so bad.

Low-gravity fun for everyone!

2007-11-07T00:24:00.000-05:00

Damnit! I missed posting today by 24 minutes. I could cheat and backdate this post, but I won't. Instead, I'll just post twice today. It's not like I'm going to win a prize for posting this much anyway - it's all for funsies. Yes, I said funsies. Deal with it.

I get emails from various library-related listservs everyday, and most of them are pretty boring. I mean, I enjoy keeping up-to-date with trends and such, but I skim through them all very quickly each day. However, the other day I was reading an email from a science librarian at some university asking if anyone had a copy of an article about Mars (or something like that, I can't remember the details). Now, I almost never look at the Google ads on the right side of the screen (yeah, Gmail!), but this time I did - and here's what I saw:

Luxury Cruise to Mars
Visit the Red Planet in Style Low-gravity fun for everyone
www.example.com

I want to go on that cruise! Sign me up, example.com!

Revelations of the day

2007-11-05T22:56:00.001-05:00

Revelation #1: This morning during my commute to work, I thought about the fact that I haven't had much time to unpack and get the house organized the way I want. Sure, I have my evenings after work, but who wants to spend the whole night cleaning and unpacking when there's shows to watch on the DVR? Certainly not me. So I thought about this, and realized that I probably have enough PTO built up to take a whole week off work, and that the beginning of December would be the perfect time to do that. Not only will I be able to get some stuff done around the house, but I'll be able to do some Christmas shopping, get cards sent out, and visit family. Just knowing that I can take that time off is making me less stressed out overall, which is a very good thing.

Revelation #2: The other day, Phil Plait (the Bad Astronomer) talked about his mancrush on Wil Wheaton (he played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, for those of you not geeky enough to know that already), and it got me thinking - do I have any girlcrushes? (Do girls even talk about their girlcrushes?) There's plenty of men I have crushes on via the internets and tv - Phil Plait (obviously), Kevin Smith, Harrison Ford (my true love), and many more - but what about women I respect and admire? After some careful thought, I've come up with two women that I can claim to have girlcrushes on:

Morgan Webb - She's smart, sexy, and a total geek, which is completely awesome. I love the fact that she is a gamer, and you can totally tell that from the way she reviews games on X-Play, the show she co-hosts on G4. (The other female hosts on G4 don't convince me that they actually know anything about gaming other that what they are reading off a cue card.) She also does a daily video podcast to report important internet and technology news, and I always get the impression that she really knows what she is talking about. That's definitely reason for a girlcrush!

Damaris B. Sarria - She writes about how she is becoming an astronaut, and I'm pretty sure that I learned about her blog from Phil Plait. In any case, she is everything I wanted to be when I was a kid, and I think it's fantastic. She's not famous or anything, but that's what makes her so cool - she's just a girl who is following her dreams, and she's sharing her experiences with the world. So awesome.

Do you have any mancrushes/girlcrushes that you're willing to publicly admit?

Whew...

2007-11-04T23:52:00.000-05:00

Just a few minutes to spare!

Random weekend facts:

I got cozy new slippers! Yeah!
My mom and cousin came down to visit, and we had a great time.
The guy taking names at First Watch today was a jerk - but the food is still delicious, so I'll probably go back. Damn you Key West Crepe!

I'll try to make tomorrow's post more interesting.

Making impressions

2007-11-03T13:43:00.000-04:00

The other day, a woman came into my library who I'd seen maybe a handful of times before. I was at the desk, and although someone else was helping her, she found her way over to me to say hello. What follows is our exact conversation:

Woman: Hey there friend!
Me: Hello.
Woman: I haven't seen you in a while!
Me: Oh, well, I've been here.
Woman: Oh okay. Hey, would you like my home phone number, so you can call me?
Me: Uhh.. no, I'll just see you when you come in.
Woman: Oh. Well, will you be here tomorrow?
Me: No.
Woman: Oh. 'Cause I'll be in tomorrow.
Me: That's okay, I'll just see you next time.
Woman: Okay.

Apparently, my customers like me. Maybe too much.

PS - I'll work on getting a pic of the pool table on here for you, Ryan. I took some pictures last night but didn't get them uploaded. Maybe that can be tomorrow's post.

So far, not so good

2007-11-02T23:47:00.000-04:00

It's day 2 of November - I haven't written a word yet for NaNoWriMo, and I barely remembered that I needed to post before midnight to keep up with NaBloPoMo. I have a feeling I'm not going to do either, but I guess I won't completely give up yet.

Hmm, what to write about? Tonight Mark and Jared put together our (free) pool table. The best part is that by the time we were done, we were all too tired to play pool. It wasn't a wasted evening since we will eventually want to play pool, and now it will be there for us to use. But still.

My new obsession is artichoke and garlic salsa. Mmmm... delicious.

Well, time for bed. Erica needs to go to work tomorrow and put up a display about unicorns. How sickeningly cute.

Impossible tasks

2007-11-01T19:30:00.001-04:00

Question to the masses - Should I attempt NaNoWriMo this year?

Reasons to go for it:
1. I'm not in school anymore, so I have more time in the evenings to dedicate to creative things.
2. It would be really awesome to write a whole novel!
3. I have a vague idea already of what I'd write about.

Reasons NOT to go for it:
1. I didn't even come CLOSE to finishing last year.
2. I have too many projects already that I need to work on.
3. I still haven't unpacked my room or put everything away in the new house.

So, what do you think? I would really like to do it, but realistically, I probably won't finish. So maybe I'll do this instead:

This seems more manageable - plus, it would get me in the habit of posting here more often, which is something I've been trying to get myself to do for a while now.

Besides - they have cute logos with lolcats. That's enough to get me on board.

Thoughts?

Moving into the future

2007-10-23T18:35:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a very busy fall so far! Let's recap, since I've gone WAY too long without posting:

Guard was fantastic - I met some great people, cracked myself in the nose with a flag a few times, and had two performances. Our season is actually already over, with the exception of a possible performance in a Christmas parade on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Now starts winterguard - H20 Winterguard to be precise - and I've been asked to be on staff! I'm very very excited!

Pictures from guard related things can be found in my Flickr photoset.

I moved into a new house this month, and I love love love it! I still have a lot of unpacking to do, but hopefully that will be done by next weekend, because we are having our annual Halloween party on Saturday! Pictures from the house are up on my Flickr page, and pictures from the Halloween party will be up sometime next week.

A funny thing that happened a while ago:

I really like the Feist song that plays in the new iPod nano commercials - so Jared downloaded it for me from the DRM-free Amazon MP3 service. Does that seem ironic to anyone else?

And in sad news - the Cleveland Indians are not going to the World Series. I got really excited about a week ago when I learned that not only were the Indians going to be in the American League Championship Series, but that my favorite player, Kenny Lofton, was back on the team. I used watch baseball all the time, but I haven't for the past few years - so I really don't even know how long Lofton has been back with the Indians. Regardless, it was fun watching the series, even if they lost horribly to the Boston Red Sox in games 6 and 7. There's always next season.

Embarrassmentia

2007-09-06T19:52:00.000-04:00

This morning at work one of my coworkers gave me a great idea for a blog post. But then I started teasing him that I was going to give him credit for the idea by posting all of his personal information for the whole interwebz to see - and now I can't even remember what I was supposed to post about. Figures, eh?

I did have an interesting day, however. I went to a diversity training for work this afternoon, which wasn't all that exciting, but it wasn't completely awful, either - definitely a bonus. But on the way there, I started thinking about how professional I felt. Here I am, 25, working full-time, driving across the city to go to a training for work - I felt like a grownup, like someone who might actually get that librarian job she's been desperately seeking for months now. Ahem. So I got to the training site, which I've been to a million times now, and I was greeted at the door by the trainer, whom I'd met before as well. She told me where to go, and I said, "Oh yes, I know exactly where that is," and I felt really good about it - it's like I needed to prove to her that I'm a veteran at this, a REAL grownup now, and I KNOW where that training room is. So what happens next? Well, she follows me up the steps, and I trip and fall flat on my face. Yep. Just like that. All thoughts of being professional or grownup were ruined.

When I got in the room and found my seat, I started thinking about how easily embarrassed I get - maybe other people would have just shrugged that off a few minutes later, but not me. I agonize over those things and beat myself up over them. I have this internal voice that scolds me repeatedly for being so clumsy - what was I doing on those steps? Why didn't I pay closer attention to my feet? This is why I tell people that I'm psychotic - I don't think normal people do this.

Eventually I forgot about the incident. But just when I let my guard down, and someone said something really funny, I laughed - and snorted. SNORTED. Very loudly, I might add. I wanted to die.

But I'm home, and I didn't die, and life is good.

Update: I finally got in touch with Spin Columbus (thanks to Eebs, my hero) and I'm going to my first practice with them this Sunday. I'm super excited to be in color guard again!

Jeep Lampshade

2007-09-03T09:57:00.001-04:00

Jeep Lampshade,
originally uploaded by silver marquis.

Saturday night I decided (with a lot of persuasion from Jared) to start on a project that I had been putting off for quite some time - make a new lampshade for our old floor lamp in the living room. The lampshade on it was yellowed and had a big hole in it, and I had recently hit it with a dishtowel (I was trying to kill a fly) and broke off the bottom ring. I thought about just buying a new one, but I figured this was a perfect opportunity to try out my new sewing machine and get creative - I mean, the worst that could happen is I screw it up and have to buy a new lampshade, right?

I swear, I nearly had a mental breakdown before I even started. I have a very deep fear of failure, and I was convinced that this was going to turn out terrible. I wasn't even completely sure that I had enough material laying around to do it or that I could sew in a straight line. But Jared reassured me that it would be fine, and so I went in search of fabric. It's a good thing I'm the daughter of a seamstress, or I might not keep random fabric scraps in a tin in my room - but I am, and I do, so I found plenty to work with in there. I decided to do a patchwork design since all I had were small pieces - at least then it would look like it was supposed to be pieced together, instead of looking like a big piece of badly-sewn-together crap.

I was fine up until I got out my sewing machine - in fact, as I jerry-rigged a pattern for the lampshade out of construction paper and electrical tape (I couldn't find any scotch tape in my apartment), I was really proud of my ingenuity. But as soon as I got my sewing machine out of the box, I freaked and called mom. How the hell was I going to do this on my own? How did I even think that I could remember how to thread a machine? (I did it ONCE as a kid - a very long time ago!) Or the bobbin, for chrissake?! Augh!

Mom didn't answer, so I had no choice but to figure it out for myself.

And I did! I read the booklet and figured it out! I'm pretty sure it helped that I had watched mom do this a million times - but watching and doing are two very different things. In any case, my excitement of figuring out how to work the sewing machine on my own made me less scared of sewing my fabric pieces together. And it's not like I haven't sewn before anyhow - just never on my own, with my own machine. It was exhilarating.

The rest of the process went pretty smoothly. Amazingly, the cover I created actually fit the old lampshade perfectly, which I was pretty happy about. I broke a needle trying to hand sew some white cord on the top to secure it, but I got a bigger needle and was able to finish it up. That part took forever, but I think it really made the shade come together nicely.

It's not perfect - for one thing, it makes the living room darker. Oops. I guess dark fabric will do that. And I didn't cut off some of my seams, which show through and look weird when the light is on. But I'm still pretty proud of it. And hey, it's my first big sewing project - I'm bound to get better, right? I'm actually really excited to start another project now! I leave so many projects unfinished, but by following this one through to completion, I'm more motivated now to finish others I've put aside. Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen, but for now I'm enjoying the high.

MySpace update

2007-08-23T19:05:00.000-04:00

My account is gone. Again.

I think I might actually contact MySpace and see why this is happening. Am I somehow unknowingly violating the Terms of Service? All I want to do is contact a guard to join. Perhaps that is too much to ask.

LoserSpace

2007-08-22T21:56:00.000-04:00

In the world of online social networking, I have made facebook my home. In fact, I have ignored most of my friends' pleas for me to join MySpace out of sheer principle - everyone is on it, and I just don't like the way it looks. And even though the library world is all "a-buzz" about social networking and using it to reach customers, I have just never been able to bring myself to join it - even for work! But yesterday, I broke my rule and joined MySpace. But why? Why would I do such a treacherous thing? Well - it's for color guard.

Let me explain. First of all, I was in color guard all through high school, and most of college. I love it, and I really mean love it - so much so that I have been almost depressed about possibly never performing or assisting with another guard ever again. It was my life for about 9 years, and... I miss it. A lot. Anyhow, I was reading a local newspaper yesterday, and on the front page was a picture of some guys spinning flags. My heart jumped a little, and I read the article associated with it - apparently, there are two color guards in Columbus that are designed for adults who want to spin again: Flaggots, which is an all-gay men group, and Spin Columbus, which is for anyone who wants to join. That means me! ME! I went to their website, and it sounds great - but they don't have an email server set up yet, so the only way to get in touch with them is - you guessed it - through MySpace.

Fucking hell!

I actually had to talk to Jared to make sure he wouldn't break up with me if I joined MySpace for the sole purpose of messaging Spin Columbus. Of course he wouldn't (I think), but still - I really, really didn't want to join. But I also really, really want to spin. Such is life, I guess.

So I joined. (Don't hate me?) But please don't try to add me as your friend if you're on there - I'm deleting it as soon as possible.

Let me just say, the website sucks. It's full of large, annoying ads, and it's not very easy to navigate. I signed up and had to verify my email address - but once I did, it still said on my profile that I had to verify my email address. For the verification to register, I had to logout and log back in again. (It sure would have been nice to be prompted to do so.) So then I searched for Spin Columbus, and sent them a message. I also requested to add them as a friend. I felt dirty about the whole thing, but at least I was able to contact them, right?

Well, today I tried to log in to MySpace and found that my password wasn't working. I knew that I was putting in the right one (I even checked my confirmation email to be sure), but I figured I'd go through the "Forgot your password?" thing anyhow just to be thorough. However, I was told that my email did not match any registered email addresses. What?! But I registered yesterday and even sent a message to another member! How can my account just not exist anymore? Shit, I didn't even get to upload a picture! So I had to go through the whole process again today and send another message to Spin Columbus. I don't even know if the first message I sent went through - and if it did, they wouldn't have been able to respond to me anyhow. I even signed up with the same email address, password, and url as yesterday, as if I had never even joined in the first place. Perhaps it was all just a bad dream?

The weird part is, when I went to MySpace today to login (before discovering that my account didn't exist anymore), it said on the main page, "Hello, Erica" - but how could it have known who I was if my account was deleted? For shame, MySpace. I hate you even more than I already did. And apparently, you hate me just as much back.

Hopefully I will hear something from Spin Columbus, and this whole ordeal will be worth the effort. And then, I will truly enjoy deleting my account.

Sqeezing through the tubes

2007-08-04T03:01:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, I feel like I'm all over the internets. And then, on nights like tonight, I feel like I'm lost in a Web 1.0 ocean. Thanks to much pressuring, I have finally joined last.fm - and discovered that none of my friends share my musical tastes. Sad, isn't it? A few months ago I joined Del.icio.us, and posted some interesting links... but stopped. I'm also on 43things, but I haven't been active on there for at least a year. And this blog - oh, this blog. I love it and hate it at the same time. I like blogging; I really do. So why can't I ever update? Who knows.

Apparently, I go through Internet Phases. I join a site, start updating like mad, then forget about it a week later. There are precious few sites I actually frequent, and even those change every few months. Right now, I check facebook almost daily, and a site called StartSampling. (By the by, I've been a member of that site since at least 2000 - pretty impressive, eh?) But beyond that, it's a crap shoot. I can't even update Flickr on a regular basis! I'll take pictures at an event, then wait a week or more before putting them up. I guess that's not so bad, but I feel so far behind everyone else.

I think, perhaps, I just don't let myself get addicted to things like I used to. I can't even remember to watch a TV show every week on the same night; how am I supposed to remember to visit certain sites each day? I even got a Remember The Milk account to help me remember to do things - but I never check it. Sometimes I feel apathetic about it all. Nobody reads my journal anyway, right? The world isn't going to end if I don't go on a road trip with no predetermined destination. Sure, it would be fun, but when would I find the time?

I think, perhaps, I have been spreading myself too thin. I can't join everything and expect to update everyday - I have to pick a few, good sites to be active on and monitor the rest. Yes, that's what I need to do. Budget my internet time. Or maybe I'm just lazy and forgetful. My money's on that.

In case you're wondering, here's a (probably partial) list of sites I'm a member of:

Blogger
Livejournal
Flickr
All things Google (Gmail, Reader, Docs, etc.)
facebook
LibraryThing
GoodReads
43things/places/people
AllConsuming
Del.icio.us
last.fm (newest addition! yeah!)
GrandCentral (oh yeah, that's Google now too)
Upcoming.org
Plaxo
Geni
StartSampling
Remember the Milk
Orkut
Friendster (ugh, I know)
OKCupid
Yahoo!
MSN/Hotmail (might be expired by now)
Doostang
Angelfire (old website)
Flixster
Netflix
Amazon
eBay

Think I forgot anything? Probably. But if it's something I can't remember and it's not in my bookmarks, it's not worth mentioning. I'll probably never go there again anyway.

Wood hazard

2007-05-25T10:31:00.001-04:00

Alright. I know that this will sound crazy, but hear me out.

A few weeks ago, on my way to work, traffic on the highway came to a startling halt. Now, this wouldn't seem so odd, considering how terrible the traffic in Columbus can be - but it was around 10:45am, long after the morning rush hour. I tried to see what was causing the pileup, and only saw smoke coming from the side of the road up ahead. I assumed (as I imagine most would) that there had been a nasty accident, and a car was either on fire or had been on fire. And sure enough, as I drove up to it, I saw a pile of something on fire. But it wasn't a car. It was a very large pile of wood, at least 8 feet high. I couldn't take my eyes off of it until I had completely driven by - had I actually just been looking at a large pile of wood, on fire, completely blocking the right lane? And were those firemen putting it out, or tending it?! I swear, I wouldn't have been any more surprised if I had seen them out there making s'mores!

Anyhow, I told Jared about this when I got home that night, and we looked on the local news websites to see if there was any mention of it. Of course, there was nothing, and I sounded like a lunatic.

But, it gets better! Today, on my way to work, driving past the same patch of highway... traffic comes to a halt again. This time, there were two cars that had just gotten into a minor accident - no fire or smoke or anything like that. But as I passed them, and tried to avoid the broken glass on the road, I noticed that one of the cars was - you guessed it - sitting on a small pile of wood. This wouldn't have seemed that weird if a truck were involved in the accident. I could buy the fact that a truck could have been hauling wood and it fell out during the accident. But you can't tell me that two cars would somehow cause wood to be left in the road. That's just crazy!

Apparently, I need to watch out for falling wood on my way to work. I could be next!

Chicken!

2007-05-09T18:51:00.000-04:00

Have you even been to a lecture that just sounds like a load of jibberish? Do you like chickens? Then you will love this video.

Here's the paper it's based on - equally hilarious!

Space mania

2007-04-29T10:54:00.000-04:00

Check out this trailer for the moon (high res, low res) - I found the link at the Bad Astronomy blog, which, if you like astronomy and don't already read this blog, you really really should. Phil Plait (the Bad Astronomer) is awesome. He said (in his post about this trailer) that this is the kind of thing that NASA should keep doing, and I completely agree. Watching stuff like this brings the magic back into space exploration, and I was completely giddy while watching it. This is what I went to Space Camp for!

The devil's playground

2007-04-26T17:20:00.000-04:00

Would you believe that I am voluntarily watching a Powerpoint presentation?

Last week I was scheduled to attend two different library presentations, and I was only able to make it to one. Really, I could have made the other, but I was tired, lazy, and wanted to go shopping. Aren't I the motivated one? Anyhow, the presentation I missed was by a librarian at Case Western Reserve University who's blog I read - so when he posted a link to his Powerpoint, I decided to see what I missed. It looked like a good talk - I won't bore you with the specifics, but what I WILL bore you with is the site his presentation was posted on: Slideshare.net.

Although this site would be fantastic for medieval torture (You must look at Powerpoint presentations until you PUKE! Mwahaha!), there are a lot of practical uses as well. This site makes it incredibly easy to post and share slideshows with colleages and friends (or enemies!), and by poking around on the site, you can view all sorts of neat presentations in subjects that you are interested in. Additionally, if you are curious as to what a "good" or a "very, very bad" slideshow looks like, there are plenty of examples to choose from.

Just another fun product from the makers of Web 2.0.

I will be your shining star

2007-04-26T00:17:00.000-04:00

I just got done listening to a speech given by the new president of Kent State University, Lester Lefton, and I am moved to blog about it. President Lefton spoke to the Akron Roundtable on March 15th of this year (and yes, I *just* got around to listening to it...) about how public universities in Ohio can work together to keep graduates in the state and improve Ohio's staggering economy.

Just as some background information, President Lefton was hired as Kent State's president before the start of the 2006-2007 school year. Immediately, he sent out an email to the entire Kent State community to introduce himself and his family. Since that time, he has continued to send out weekly emails to both students and staff, telling us what he has done that week (meetings, events, talks, award ceremonies, sports events he has attended, etc.) and giving us periodic updates about his cat, Leo, who apparently took a while to adjust to their new home in Kent, Ohio.

Maybe I'm just a geek (read: huge geek), but I think that this is fantastic. President Lefton is not only showing Kent State students that he knows his way around a computer and keyboard, but he's letting us know that he's actually doing something each week, and that he wants us to know about it. I feel almost as if I know President Lefton - and I look forward to his email each Friday. Through this small effort, I feel more connected to a university campus that I've only visited a few times (since I take classes in Columbus), and I've learned a heck of a lot more about what a university president actually does. Most importantly, I trust this guy more than I ever trusted the president of Miami University while I was there. Lester Lefton is transparent (in a very good way), real, and even a little funny.

But back to his speech - the main point was to stress that many smart and qualified college graduates are leaving the state to find employment, and Ohio needs to make a greater attempt to retain some of these talented folks to help improve the state's economy. Having lived in Ohio all my life, I wholeheartedly agree - and I share President Lefton's excitement and optimism about what our newly elected governor plans to do to help.

In any case, the point I'm getting to is this: I would like to offer my services as a future Ohio professional employee. I'm graduating in about 2 1/2 weeks, and I'm currently seeking employment. I want more than anything to stay in the state, and it seems that Ohio wants me to stay... so, here I am, Ohio. Hire me. Keep me here. I don't want to look for an out-of-state job, mostly because I'm too lazy to move, but also because all of my family and friends are here. Ohio, you still have a pretty decent public employee retirement system, and I want to take advantage of it. Don't make me leave. Just hire me! I'll be a good librarian, I promise. I even have a Bachelor's degree in Physics! See, I'm smart! You need me!

Sigh. Anyone think that'll work?

If you are interested at all, you can find Lester Lefton's speech at the Akron Roundtable website. If you have time to listen to the whole thing (30-40 minutes, but it's all audio so you can do other things while listening), it's pretty good.

Corn-fed

2007-04-20T20:35:00.000-04:00

As my friends are well aware, I am a person of obsessions. I don't just like things, I covet them. Pepsi is one of those things. Don't EVEN get me started about how much better Pepsi is than Coke, because I'll just get all huffy. And it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about it anyway, because to me, Pepsi is like the God Of Beverages. Sadly for me, I have recently given up all forms of soda.

Let me tell you, it's hard to give up something you love so much. But I know that I need to eat healthy, and let's face it - pop is extremely unhealthy. For me, it had to be the first thing to go. And I have to be diligent about it, because even if I were to try to drink it in moderation, I would soon slip back into drinking it multiple times a day. Instead, I drink mostly water, with the occasional juice or light lemonade. And, surprise, I feel better. I am no longer addicted to caffeine, meaning I no longer get nasty headaches when I don't have it. But most of all, I'm glad that I've eliminated the High Fructose Corn Syrup that pop contains.

There's only one catch - almost everything else I love to eat has high fructose corn syrup in it! I'm finding it in juice, in chocolate milk, and in my beloved sweet & sour sauce at McDonald's. Granted, I need to eliminate fast food from my diet too - that's next - so the sweet & sour sauce won't be a problem. But juice? Damnit. And thinking back, my family always used Karo syrup in their cooking. And Karo is just pure corn syrup. Yuck!

If you pay attention to labels at all, you'll find corn in almost everything. I don't really think that's all bad, and it makes sense - the United States can produce corn very easily. Just drive around Ohio and you'll see corn everywhere. Hell, we're even trying to make gasoline out of it. Perhaps there is a corn conspiracy. Are we being fed all this corn for a reason? Maybe all food is actually just flavored corn. Or, maybe all food WILL be flavored corn, and we're being slowly fed more and more corn so we won't notice. Or maybe, just maybe, the powers that be will soon attempt to harvest the combined power of corn and humans, and we'll all end up in pods with our brains connected to a virtual representation of the world we once knew.

Oh wait, that's the matrix.

The point is, it sucks giving up Pepsi.

The Librarian

2007-04-20T20:24:00.000-04:00

Watch this film and tell me if you aren't moved to become a librarian.

A more lengthy and absurd post is in store, so stay tuned.

Library Geek 2.0

2007-04-11T00:21:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I just got wind of a new LibraryThing service (thanks Jared!), targeted specifically at libraries and their online public access catalogs (OPACs for the non-library geek readers). LibraryThing for libraries aims to enhance a library's existing OPAC by taking their data and generating a widget with both "Similar Items" and "Related Editions." This is really cool because right now libraries around the US are trying to upgrade their online services, specifically their catalog functionality. Here's the New York Public Library OPAC (with a sample search) - and here's the same OPAC with the LibraryThing widget in place (Look in the sidebar). It's helpful to patrons and non-intrusive, and it doesn't require any major OPAC upgrades on the library's end. I think this is really cool, especially when services like Amazon already have these kinds of functions. Library users expect it and want it! LibraryThing is going to unveil this at the Computers in Libraries conference, so I'm interested in seeing what the library world's reaction will be to it.

Since I'm going to be a librarian in one month and a day (*ahem*), you'll have to excuse me if I get excited about this stuff.

I also heard recently that the Brooklyn Public Library is going to start using Netflix for their customers. How cool is that? Imagine - you get a library card, and with it you can rent ANY MOVIE YOU WANT FROM NETFLIX FOR FREE. I think that's a fantastic service, and I really hope it catches on.

Here's something else that might be of interest to my Central Ohio readers (AKA, like two of you): Library Journal did an article about the Ohio State University Libraries and the remodeling of the Thompson Library. (Mary, remember when we spent an evening exploring that library? There won't be 12 crazy floors anymore when they're done with it.) It sounds like a really cool project, and after doing my practicum at the Science and Engineering Library, I saw how busy that library was now that there isn't a main library to go to.

Yes yes, I know, lots of library links. But now that I'm about to officially join the profession, I need to be keeping up-to-date on these things. I've been reading a few new blogs recently - It's All Good, by some of the staff members of OCLC that work on WebJunction, The Shifted Librarian, a pretty well-known library blog, and Are You 2.0 Yet?, a blog by the Engineering Librarian at Case Western. All very cool and very geeky.

That's all for now. I love being a library geek!

April Fool's Wha?

2007-04-01T23:50:00.000-04:00

Today, as most of the world knows, was April Fool's Day. I was sad about it falling on Sunday, because so many of the best jokes are played during the work week, and having it on Sunday makes it harder to be around gullible people. But the Internet didn't take a break from April Fool's; there are plenty of popular websites with fantastic gags, and I'm about to tell you where they are.

First off: Google. Google is known for their April Fool's Day jokes, and this year is no exception. Check out their "crappy" new service - I doubt anyone believed this for a second, but it's pretty hilarious. Be sure to look at the Google Group created for it, and if you want to see previous April Fool's Day jokes, just go to this fake "Not Found" page. Oh, Google, you never disappoint.

Gmail had it's own gag separate from Google proper - their new Gmail Paper service! Can you imagine getting all your emails sent to you in paper form? I bet some people would actually use this service, if it were real. And I'm willing to bet that more people believed this one than the TiSP service.

Livejournal, my other blogging home, really got me this year. Their news announcement about needing to be more competitive in the social networking market was almost believable. In fact, I had to look at the comments to see that this was just a gag and not my beloved Livejournal selling out to the MySpace overlords. Fantastic!

Facebook also had a few tricks up its sleeve in the form of news feed items. Since all of the other crap your friends do will ultimately cause these to get pushed out of your news feed, here's what they were:

"You are on Facebook, reading your News Feed."
"Harry and Voldemort have set their relationship status to 'Mortal Enemies.'"
"Two of your oxen drowned when you tried to ford the river."
"Bracket Buster: Ohio State and Florida have mutually agreed on a tie and will not play the Championship game."
"Meredith and McDreamy have changed their relationship status to "It's Complicated" ... oh wait ... "In a Relationship" ... oh wait ... "It's Complicated" again."

and finally:

"Introducing LivePoke(tm)! Facebook will dispatch a real live person today to poke a friend of your choice.*
*offer good for only the first 100 pokers in each network."

Also, if you looked at the bottom of your News Feed page, you would see:

"A (insert your name here) Production." (With name inserted, of course.)

And when you reloaded the page, other random names would appear as well.

LibraryThing didn't do much, but they did change their logo to say "LibraryStuff," which is still pretty funny.

And finally, the most ridiculous and hilarious gag of the day (in my opinion) was from Ask.com - apparently, they are going to team up with Kevin Federline. Oh, how I loves a good K-Fed joke!

What did you see today? Did anyone play any good jokes on you? Or did you get someone else really good? Whether you were the butt of the joke or the tormentor, I hope you all enjoyed your April ze first.

Procrastination cat is not amused

2007-02-18T08:37:00.000-05:00

For any of you that don't already use Gmail, or even for all of you that do, here's a video you should watch:

Gmail Theatre

I love it! Puppets make me smile.

I believe my levels of procrastination recently reached an all-time high. Last spring, I attended a library-related weekend workshop, worth one credit hour. I didn't really need that one credit hour, but the workshop sounded interesting. I really enjoyed it, but once I came back I put off starting the post-assignment. The assignment was just a 5-7 page paper - nothing fancy, nothing that difficult, nothing I shouldn't have been able to churn out in an hour or two. But, being the ridiculous master of procrastination that I am, and given that the deadline for the paper was arbitrary (the instructor gave a date for the deadline, but later said it didn't matter when she got it), I put the paper off until after finals. Surely, I would have plenty of time afterwards to write it up and send it off - at least that's what I told myself.

Note that this was last March. Almost an entire year ago.

"So," you're probably wondering, "when did you write the paper?" Well let's see... I took three classes over the summer, so I didn't make time to write it then. Fall started up almost immediately, and that led into all kinds of family issues by year's end, so I didn't write it then. During these months, I had started the paper and added to it several times, so it wasn't as if I ignored it completely. However, it wasn't until last week - Thursday night - that I finally just forced myself to go to a computer lab and write the damn paper. I sent it to the instructor, tail between my legs, hoping that she would accept it. She did (thank you thank you thank you), and I would have screamed in pure joy if it hadn't been 8am when I got her email response.

The moral of this whole story is this: Procrastination only works when you actually finish the thing you're putting off. And in no way was this a successful procrastination attempt. This paper plagued my mind for months, and each time I thought about doing it, I was overwhelmed with the realization that it was so severely overdue that I couldn't possibly think of any logical reason why I hadn't finished it. As time went on, working on it became an increasingly harder and daunting task. Surprisingly enough, I was actually pretty happy with the end result, so I guess that's a good thing? Eh.

Never again, my friends. Never again.

It's a good thing I'm not like this at work. When I'm there, I'm so focused and driven. And organized! God, I wish I could be that organized at home. I'm not sure why that is - aren't organized people supposed to be organized in ALL aspects of their life? I'm creative, I problem-solve, I get things done quickly - too bad that doesn't translate very well into my personal life. I guess that's a goal to strive for. At least, for now, my mind is free to focus on other things. And I promise I'm going back to my normal, "healthy" levels of procrastination.

It's more like Milkshake Day for me anyhow.

2007-02-14T14:28:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the web comic suggestions - I found a few that I enjoy looking at and subscribed to them in Google Reader. As if I didn't have enough to look at with Boing Boing posts alone.. sheesh. (I love you, Boing Boing, but it's hard to keep up!)

So here it is. Valentine's Day. Usually I either love or hate this day - depending entirely on whether or not I'm single. But this year, I'm apathetic. I don't think I'm really getting any "traditional" Valentine's gifts.. Jared and I would rather celebrate our anniversary (the 13th) than v-day. But I do enjoy my romantic stuff, and I think we're going out to dinner and a movie sometime soon to celebrate. Right now there's so much snow out that we really can't do anything except hang out in the apartment anyhow.

There used to be a time when I was hell-bent on hating this holiday, regardless of my relationship status. However, I would like to tell all of those wishing to hate this day a few reasons NOT to:

Hate reason #1: It's a Hallmark holiday! It's just a ploy by the card companies to make more money.

Me: Of course it is! Just like St. Patrick's day is a ploy by the beer companies to get us to drink more beer, and Independence day is a ploy by the fireworks' companies to get us to blow our limbs off, so is Valentine's day a reason for us to buy cards out of necessity. But we enjoy getting drunk and blowing ourselves up, don't we? And let's be honest - if you weren't required to send cards for holidays, would you? I enjoy getting cards and gifts, and I also like giving them to people who appreciate them. So, if I'm okay with other commericialized holidays, I'm okay with Valentine's day.

Hate reason #2: You don't need a day set aside to be romantic - you should be romantic and remind your partner you love them every day.

Me: Oh sure, in a perfect world maybe. But seriously - does that happen? If it does, then great! Good for you! But for the rest of the world, it's kinda nice to have a day to remember how much you really love the person you are with - or how much you appreciate the friends you have in your life. I'm okay with that.

Hate reason #3: But it reminds me of how single and lonely I am!

Me: I've been there, so I know how it feels. All these happy couples around you, kissing and exchanging gifts... it makes you sick. Honestly, even though I'm in a happy relationship with someone, it STILL makes me sick to see these couples. What I would suggest is to take the day as a chance to do things for yourself. Enjoy your favorite hobby or go out with your friends. There's more love in the world than just romantic love, and enjoying the activities and people you love should put you in better spirits. Just avoid expensive restaurants with gross couples having dinner - unless one of your favorite activities is mocking them. In that case, go for it!

As for me, I'm going to spend the day doing the one thing I love most of all - nothing!

Web comic rush

2007-01-31T23:40:00.000-05:00

I'm reading two books right now, but I haven't finished either of them - so no book review today. Sadness, I know. But at least I'm updating.. so that's a start.

I've never been a big web comic person - I usually hear about them, or see them once or twice, but never remember to keep up with it. Plus, a whole bunch of them aren't that funny. Well... they aren't that funny to me, and that's all I care about. But lately I've been reading Unshelved, a fantastic comic that pretty much sums up life in a public library. Even if you don't work in a library, it would still be funny.

I've also become aware of another comic - Questionable Content - which seems promising so far. I had heard about this one some time ago, but it keeps popping up in people's blogs, and now I'm curious about it. So curious, in fact, that I decided to find out which character I'm most like. I wasn't expecting to be the robot, but whatever. Me likey robots.

Which Questionable Content Character Are You?

You are Pintsize! You are a destructive little monster who only manages to get away with things because he's cute. You have a fondness for cake mix and a weakness for duct tape. I pray to God that no one ever builds a laser into your stomach.
Take this quiz!

Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Questionable Content also has both a rockin' library t-shirt and Harrison Ford t-shirt for sale, both of which I absolutely. must. have.

I think QC might be a little too indy for my taste, but whatevs. I just started reading it today anyhow. Their stuff is cool, so the comic must also be cool. It's a rule. (Rhyme!)

All of this reminds me of the aspirations I had to start my very own web comic. Hmm, that's worked out well so far, hasn't it? Perhaps I am not Web Comic Creator Material. Or perhaps I am just lazy. Actually, I told someone about my ideas and found out that it had already been done - and done much better than I could have, I might add. Go figure.

Jim Rummy Punch

2007-01-18T23:28:00.000-05:00

As some of you already know, I've been on jury duty for the past two weeks. Today was my last day, however, and that makes me sad. I've met some really fun people that I'll probably never see again. It's always strange to me how awkward goodbyes are between people that have only known each other for a short time. Even if you don't admit it, you know that you will probably never see each other again. It's hard to know what to say in that situation. Do you try to exchange phone numbers or email addresses? If so, do you honestly think you'll attempt to stay in touch? Or do you just say, "Well, it's been fun - have a nice life!"

One of my fellow jurors told me of plans to build a Sonic here in Columbus. I am absolutely thrilled, because the closest one right now is near Athens, and I need more reasons to avoid my diet.

Random fact about me #173: I kick ass at Rummy.

Random fact about me #174: I really, really like the number 173. And 137.

For any of you book-lovers out there (and I know you're there), there's a new service coming out that will probably blow your mind. It's called BookSwim, and it has been called the "Netflix for books." Basically, you rent the books like you would DVDs from Netflix, and you send them back in a pre-paid envelope to get the next one from your queue. If you like the book, you can purchase it and keep it. You might be surprised that someone as gung-ho about libraries as I am would be interested in a service like this - and rightfully so. But, they are different services catering to different consumers. Books, DVDs, and CDs from the library are all free, with the catch that you have to bring them back on time. (If that frustrates you, think about it: no library fines = no motivation to bring items back = libraries lose materials and money. Not happy.) You also have to get off your lazy ass and go to the library to get them. Of course BookSwim doesn't have late fees, because you are paying those fees upfront with your subscription cost. (No word yet on what that cost will be - I'm guessing it will be comparable to Netflix.) The benefit is that you can be as lazy as you want, and read as slow as your feeble brain is able with no penalty. Needless to say, I can't wait to try it out.

Book review time! Yes, I managed to read a new book, and mostly because while on jury duty this week, I had to keep myself from being bored out of my mind. The book is Jimmy Carter's Our Endangered Values, and it was fabulous. (Yes, I know he has a newer book out. But I'm slow.) The values that he is referring to in the title are the historical values our nation was built upon and that have been developed throughout its existence: separation of church and state; human rights; peaceful diplomacy; war only as a last resort to solving international disputes; protecting our environment; and providing humanitarian aid to other countries. Carter, after outlining his own very deep and spiritual religious beliefs, outlines how fundamentalism in our government is ruining our country and our country's reputation throughout the world. Carter does not beat around the bush when it comes to his opinions; instead, he delivers factual evidence along with an eloquent and convincing argument towards his way of thinking. If you're looking for a book to make you angry about the current state of affairs in Washington, look no further. However, if you are happy with our current administration, then you probably wouldn't enjoy the book - there are plenty of instances when Carter makes direct attacks on the very government he once led. Although the beginning, for me, was too religious-y, the discussion of Carter's personal beliefs and convictions help the reader to understand where his viewpoints come from. If you can tolerate the religious discussion, the rest of the book will inspire you to learn more about what's really going on with our government today. It will also make you want to punch a wall, so get ready for some anger. Gooood anger.

A long post today - but damn, it's about time. Hope you read this far and enjoyed yourself. Cheers!